Human Equation
by gatechic
Summary: Crossover with Prey. This is a sequel to "A New Breed" which can be found on the "Prey" list.
1. Default Chapter

Here it is the long awaited I-Man/Prey crossover sequel from the production team of Alli and M&M. The same team that brought you "State of Mind" (which BTW a sequel to that is also in production) presents to you, Darien and Ed's new big adventure.  
  
Cue music...roll opening credits...  
  
There once was a story about a man who could turn invisible. I thought it was only a story until it happened to me.  
  
Forty thousand years ago, the most advanced species on earth was wiped out by a powerful new life form.  
  
  
  
"Human Equation" Sequel to "A New Breed" Authors: Lori and Alli Rating: PG 13 Category: Action/Adventure crossover with Prey Disclaimers: We don't own the characters from "The Invisible Man" or "Prey". We're using them not for money but just for fun and they will be returned safe and sound when were done with 'em. Maybe. Spoilers: Lots of 'em for both shows. Description: Tom helps Darien with his new life. Ed and Claire draw closer together at the dismay of Hobbes. Stark makes plans to add Ed to the collection of frozen scientists. Lewis is after Darien and he's not the only one. Ed finds himself in a position where he's forced to save Darien from the Official, but it may also cost him his life.  
  
Authors' notes: Ed Tate's background was really never discussed on the series. So, we've taken creative license and gave him a life.hehehe. Anything written in this story about Ed's background is purely from our own minds. All we know is that he surfs, hikes, has an MD and a PhD, plays Gin, great at flipping hamburgers, drinks beer, eats Chinese food and can hack into the phone company's computer.  
  
If you're new to the list and would like to read "A New Breed", let me know and I'll give you the messages numbers.  
  
Lori  
  
Chapter One  
  
Lewis walked down the hall that led to the chamber of the High Council. The halls were decorated with intricate designs. They were similar to those found on the pillar that was found in Oaxaca, Mexico by Tom, Sloan and Ed. The pillar had been retrieved later by Walter, only to be destroyed. Lewis traced some of the patterns with his finger as he walked.  
  
(Darien Voice Over) "David. W. Hogg once said, "There is one hypothesis, central to evolution, that remains barely tested-that evolution proceeds through the process of survival and reproduction of the fittest."   
  
Lewis stood outside the double doors to the High Council. He had been summoned to give a report on his latest mission, which could be viewed as a failure and a success. He kept his shields up, not wanting the High Council to see into him. It's not so much that he didn't like them, he didn't trust them. Lewis didn't ponder what he was going to say, he didn't fear the Council. In fact, he had little fear of anyone or so he thought.  
  
Lewis knew that the High Council wasn't pleased with him for losing Tom Daniels, their most valued Chameleon and Tom came from a powerful family. Tom was one of the Chosen and now he sided with the humans. This left a bad taste in their mouths. Lewis had failed to get control over him again. And now the Council was pressuring Lewis to get rid of Dr. Sloan Parker. As far as Dr. Edward Tate, they wanted his complete and unconditional loyalty. Everyone else, Walter Attwood, Ray Peterson, the mysterious lady were all expendable. They were considered lesser sapiens, no more important than the other humans they wished to eradicate from the earth.  
  
(DVO continues)Tom once said to Sloan, "A new species does what it has to survive. Evolution isn't just about survival of the fittest, Sloan. It's about domination."  
  
The double doors swung open and Lewis confidently walked into the lions den. When he reached the center of the barren room he planted his feet and stood firm. The only thing in front of him was a long rectangular table. The members of the Council sat in chairs facing the room. Behind them, strategically placed lights made intricate patterns on the wall. Lewis always felt that it meant to confuse anyone standing where he was now.  
  
"Lewis, you have a report for us?" A voice that was as deep and cold as the ocean spoke to Lewis first.  
  
"Yes, I do." Lewis didn't flinch or hesitate. He knew the game well. His shoulders went back to make his broad chest stand out more. It was a show and he knew it, but he was going to give them all he had. He imagined this is what a rooster must do before a cock-fight, to appear more menacing. 'Cock.how appropriate,' Lewis amused himself with the term. Dominant testosterone levels were higher than their human male counterparts and in this room, the levels were overflowing.  
  
(DVO concludes) "I think what David and Tom were trying to say was.Let the 'pissing contest' begin."  
  
Lewis continued, "The information that the second Lynch clone was able to gather from Jared Stark revealed that the human organization Chrysalis are technically advanced. When they reach the age of 25 they don't age beyond that. It seems they have discovered the mythological Fountain of Youth."  
  
Some on the Council looked at each other. Whispers could be heard, and Lewis sensed that they were curious about this news. "How do they accomplish this?" A member asked.  
  
"That information I do not have in my possession. Upon capturing Jared Stark, Lynch also brought to me whom we thought was Dr. Edward Tate. As per my mission, I injected the look alike with the serum thinking that it was the subject we wanted." Lewis wasn't sure if the Council would believe what he was going to say next. "The subject was actually a human who works for the government. His name is Agent Darien Fawkes, and this agent in particular has a most unusual gift.he can render himself invisible."  
  
"Lewis, do you expect us to believe that humans can no longer grow old and turn invisible?"  
  
"Believe what you want to," Lewis brought down his shield. "Search me yourselves; you will know that I speak the truth." Lewis paused and waited. "The serum worked and had a most unexpected reaction to Agent Fawkes. Later I was able to retrieve both Dr. Tate and Agent Fawkes. I injected Dr. Tate with Dr. Copeland's formula." Lewis approached the table and handed some papers to one of the Council members. "This is a report of Dr. Tate's examination of Agent Fawkes. You will note that the results show Agent Fawkes' conversion was a success but with some astonishing additions. Agent Fawkes has the capability of reading minds and focusing his thought patterns into the minds of others. We have heard that some of our kind has this ability, but his is something that I haven't seen so advanced."  
  
"In what way?"  
  
Lewis looked in the direction of the voice, "In a way that he can cause pain. He was able to bring both Lynch and myself down to our knees; nearly paralyzing us and we weren't even in the same room." Lewis studied the reaction of the Council members. "He was even able to knock out Dr. Tate without moving. He did this completely with his mind." Lewis left out the fact that Ed wasn't in exactly perfect physical condition at the time, but anything to throw the Council off his back. His shields were up again and they wouldn't know that minor detail. He knew that the only thing they would be interested in now is Agent Fawkes.  
  
"What about the invisibility? How does that work?"  
  
"It seems that Agent Fawkes is a human science experiment. A gland was implanted into his brain. I believe it's bio-synthetic." Lewis said.  
  
"Can it be cloned?"  
  
Lewis smiled. "Yes, it can be cloned. The bio portion easily, the synthetic part could be recreated." Lewis stopped right there. That would be enough to get him off the hook for his past mistakes. He watched as the Council talked amongst themselves. It was a matter minutes before the head of the Council spoke.  
  
"Lewis, we are not pleased with your performance as of late, but this news of the serum being a success and of this new dominant. We have decided to give you a second chance. Bring us Agent Fawkes and your record will be clean."  
  
Lewis shook his head in agreement and left the council room.  
  
****  
  
  
  
The group arrived at Ed's apartment. Darien and Tom helped Ed into his bed while Hobbes brought in Ed's things. Sloan continued to worry about Ed, but her thoughts were still on Darien, 'I've got to talk to Ed about my feelings. This was so unexpected.'  
  
Sloan sat next to Ed as Claire checked his vital signs.  
  
"Your pulse is strong and your temperature is back to normal," Claire patted Ed on the chest, 'He's so much like Kevin. I can't stop thinking of our first night together in college.'  
  
"I do feel better. I'll just rest for another hour then go into the lab."  
  
Sloan shook her head, "No Ed, you have to rest, at least one more day."  
  
"But I feel much better," Ed tried to sit up.  
  
Sloan smiled as she gently pushed Ed back on the bed, "Right, because you slept like a baby the whole trip."  
  
Darien pointed to Sloan, "Listen to mom, here, you gotta take it easy."  
  
Ed looked disappointed and thought to himself, 'Not again. She's always treating me like a baby, just like with the Spanish flu and I recovered pretty quick.'  
  
Darien smiled, "Yeah, I agree, she does baby you, but she is right."  
  
Sloan glared at Ed and Ed glared at Darien.  
  
Darien shrugged, "Oops.sorry. Look, I'll keep you company. We never had a chance to talk with all the crap we went through."  
  
Ed agreed, "Yeah, I have a lot of questions, as do you I'm sure. But try and wait until I actually ask the question, don't read my mind, okay?"  
  
Darien smiled, "I'll try, but I can't promise you anything. Thoughts just shoot out at me. I have a hard time telling if they're thoughts or spoken words. Like, right now.Claire and Sloan's thoughts are reading like a romance novel."  
  
Tom raised an eyebrow at the remark.  
  
Sloan looked startled, "What!"  
  
Ed pulled his sheet over his head.  
  
Claire hit Darien in the arm, "Dahrien!"  
  
"Ow! Watch the shoulder. It's still a little sore you know," Darien rubbed his arm.  
  
Hobbes laughed, "That new mind of yours is going to get you in a lot of trouble, partner."  
  
Claire and Sloan glared at Darien.  
  
Tom cleared his throat and motioned to Hobbes, "We need to get to the lab and meet with Walter. Agent Fawkes, I will help you adjust to your newly acquired instincts tomorrow," Tom looked at Ed, "Take care, Ed." Ed nodded and waved to Tom.  
  
Hobbes motioned to Darien, "Okay kid, I'll see you later."  
  
Both Darien and Ed replied in unison, "Okay Hobbes."  
  
Hobbes looked to Darien and to Ed, "Right.ah.you, the sick kid, take it easy. You, the mutant Psychic Network Hotline, I'll pick you up later," Ed smiled and Darien rolled his eyes. Hobbes continued, "Ladies, after you."  
  
Sloan gave Ed a hug and Claire gave Ed a reassuring pat on the hand, "Don't upset him. I don't think you want his Dominant side to come out."  
  
"Don't worry about that. I had a taste of that already." Ed smiled.  
  
Claire turned to Darien, "Make sure he rests."  
  
"Yes, ma'am."  
  
They walked out of Ed's apartment. Darien pulled off his black leather coat, pulled up a chair and sat down next to Ed. Ed propped himself up on his pillows. The two just studied each other for a moment. With all the excitement the past few days, they really never had a chance to really look at each other. Ed broke the silence.  
  
"So, what's up with the hair?" Ed motioned to Darien's troll like hair style.  
  
"The hair?"  
  
"Well, that was the one thing people kept commenting on. It does defy gravity."  
  
"In the beginning I would use gel, but since I began working with the Agency, it started to stand up on its own." Darien and Ed both laughed.  
  
They talked in depth about their families and possible connections but came up with no real family ties. They also spoke of their experiences, the University, the lab, the experiments, everything. They both realized that the day their lives changed forever included the death of someone close. For Darien it was Kevin and for Ed it was Ann Coulter. Darien told Ed that Kevin was going to take the gland out but died before he could. Most of the information on the procedure was destroyed. He even told Ed about the memory RNA incident and how close he was to his dream. Ed felt bad that Darien had been betrayed by his own brother. But he knew how it felt to have information kept from him.  
  
Ed explained how Sloan had known about Tom's real identity but never said anything to him. "Of course, it doesn't compare to your betrayal, but it still hurts cause Sloan didn't trust me, at least that's how I felt. I know why she did it, Darien, but."  
  
"You guys were friends and she should have been able to trust you," Darien said. "If you can't trust your friends, who can you trust?"  
  
"Yeah, exactly. I mean, we had been working side by side for days and all of a sudden there's Tom's blood sample. It took me a long time before I could really trust him." Ed said.  
  
"Well, can't say that I blame you. It took me awhile before I could trust anybody at the agency.well, I still don't trust the Fat Man, not completely anyway." Darien said with a smirk. "But now at least I'll know what he's thinking," Darien pointed to his head and smiled.  
  
"True." Ed smiled back.  
  
"This is too weird, like looking in a mirror."  
  
"Yeah, I think we covered that one."  
  
"We did didn't we."  
  
"I should take you to meet my grandmother.she would flip." Darien said amused at the vision in his head.  
  
"Yeah, mine would too. And yes, I would like to meet your grandmother and watch her flip." Ed listened as they talked some more and was sympathetic with Darien's colorful past, and remained intrigued with Kevin's experiment. But Darien really didn't have all the information. From what Ed had learned it was a remarkable scientific breakthrough that could lead to other types of gland or organ implants. But with all such discoveries, someone out there would want to use it for evil purposes. Ed thought that it must be tough on Darien to live in such a precarious life were any minute he could be taken and the gland harvested.  
  
Ed shook his head, "You really came through a lot, Darien."  
  
"Well, it's not easy being me."  
  
"Tell me about it." Ed rubbed his stab wound, "I found that out."  
  
Darien ran his hand through his hair and smiled, "Yeah, I guess so. Sorry about that."  
  
"Well, it wasn't your fault, but it did get annoying after awhile," Ed laughed and Darien smiled back. Ed became serious, "And I'm sorry about your brother."  
  
"Yeah, well, you remind me of him." Darien half smiled at Ed.  
  
"Really?" Ed was surprised. That was something he didn't expect from Darien.  
  
"Sure, you're a naive brainiac who is shy and dedicated. Always concerned with getting the job done, you're too hung up on your work. I bet you stay up late working at the lab because you're just so close to making a breakthrough or you have something to finish and it just can't wait."  
  
Ed looked away, "That's old Ed Tate in a nut shell."  
  
Darien glanced over at the surfboard leaning up against the wall, "You surf, chicks gotta dig that, and you don't look like a scientist, so you got that going for you. Get your head out of the lab and take some chances." Darien said.  
  
"My parents divorced when I was young. Man, did they have knock down drag out fights. From the time they woke up until they went to bed they did nothing but argue." Ed looked at his folded hands, "I guess that's why I got into surfing. That was my escape, nothing out there but me and the ocean, no yelling, no arguments, just the sound of the waves coming in. I would wake up early to leave," Ed glanced into Darien's eyes and saw a sympathy in them, "just so I wouldn't listen to the morning ritual of shouts and go out to surf until it was time to go to school. I'd shower off will quick, change my clothes, ride my bike home with the board tucked under my arm," Ed paused as he remembered his childhood, "You know, I think they knew I snuck out early, my mom never said anything to me, I think she understood that I needed to be away from them. Well, soon my dad left and I haven't really heard from him, of course until I earned my M.D. then it was all different."  
  
Darien looked at Ed, no wonder why Ed sympathized with him. Ed's childhood nearly mirrored his own. Darien sat and listened as Ed took his turn and poured out his heart.  
  
"I'm the only child, guess that's a good thing. I saw the pain my mom went through; how she talked about marriage and that it ruined her life. I was a product of that marriage so I guess you know how that made me feel." Ed smiled, "I even heard her say that men are good for only one thing." Ed let out a half hearted laugh. "I guess that's why I couldn't tell Sloan how I felt. I saw what happened to my mom and dad and I didn't want that. I never went to proms or anything like that. I was too afraid of relationships, so I avoided them. I think the guys at school thought I was.well, you know, because I never really dated any girls."  
  
Ed paused for a brief moment and then continued, "If I couldn't surf, I had my head in books, joined Honor Society clubs, Science Club and stuff like that, those were my escapes. Anything that kept me away from the house I jumped at it, I even played basketball and soccer on the beach." Ed let a cleansing sigh, "Then came college and more of the same stuff. I earned my M.D., did my residency, and decided that sick people weren't my thing. That's when I decided to earn a doctorate in immunology. I ended up being a researcher and found myself at Whitney University, all because I wanted to avoid people."  
  
"Whoa.so you're a 'double doctor'?" Darien asked in surprise. He decided to change the subject. He doubt that Ed had told anybody about his childhood.  
  
Ed sheepishly smiled, "Yeah, M.D., Ph.D. are all at the end of my name. I did a couple of years at NIAD.that's why Copeland kidnapped me and took me to Alaska. He wanted me to find a way to release the Spanish flu on the human population."  
  
Darien shook his head, "That's deep. What did you do?"  
  
"I got away. I wasn't going to join them and betray my species."  
  
Darien smiled, "Really? You got away? How? I mean, you don't seem like the type that could put up a good fight." Darien paused, "Oh.I'm sorry, my bad.It's just that I tend to get my butt kicked a lot and I thought that."  
  
"Since we both look alike the same would apply to me.well, you're right. So, no hard feelings, but I did kick butt that day. I struggled with one of the guards and the gun went off, shooting him in the stomach. Then I hid behind the door and waited for the other one. When he came in, I pistol whipped him, grabbed his parka and off I went into the Alaskan tundra."  
  
"Nice.but I wonder.I mean, I'm new at this whole dominant thing, but the guards didn't sense you hiding?" Darien asked.  
  
"I thought about that myself. Tom has said that he can read signatures, electrical impulses and emotions, so yeah they should have sensed me hiding or at least my adrenaline. The only thing I can figure is that the flu must have done something to them or they were just being cocky." Ed smiled.  
  
"Give yourself some credit, doc.you kicked butt." Darien gave Ed a low- five; he paused and thought back to what Ed had told him earlier about his childhood. "Looks like we both found something to escape to, although you made better choices than I did. While you tried to escape your father's tendencies, I embraced mine, my dad was a thief and I followed in his footsteps. You ended up a scientist and I ended up a science experiment." Darien thought about his last statement and chuckled, "Life sure is funny."  
  
Ed glanced down at his folded hands, "I've been afraid to tell Sloan how I feel. I don't want to ruin our friendship. I love her too much. Besides, she's happy with Tom." He let out a big sigh, "God, I hated seeing them together. When Tom came into the lab when Ann Coulter was killed, I could feel it you know, his attraction towards her and even then I couldn't tell her how I felt. I had so many chances.five years worth of chances.I really blew it with her didn't I?"  
  
"Yeeessss," Darien sang his response, "But."  
  
"But.what?" Ed looked at Darien suspiciously.  
  
"There's someone else who has her eyes on you. But she also has someone who has eyes on her." Darien got up to get something to drink.  
  
"It's Claire isn't it?" Ed turned his head to look away from Darien. "Crap", Ed said in exasperation.  
  
Darien half smiled at Ed's choice of words. "Uhmmm.yes.and she has it pretty bad for you, man." Darien said.  
  
Ed let out a deep cleansing breath, "God, I don't want to blow it again. I don't want to be alone anymore, you know?"  
  
"Well you have to ask yourself a question. Is Claire someone that you would like to pursue?" Darien asked.  
  
"Well any woman who plays with my boxers while I'm unconscious is alright in my book." Ed smiled as a soft chuckle escaped his mouth.  
  
Darien shot Ed a cheeky smile, "Okay, I guess I missed something."  
  
"When I was rescued from Arnaud I was brought into the keep. I guess Claire was confused and thought I was you. She noticed my boxers and nearly gave me a wedgie pulling on them. I think she was as surprised as I was when I woke up."  
  
Darien laughed, "Oh man, I wished I had seen that. I take it you're a boxer dude?"  
  
"Yeah, and I take it you're a briefs dude." Ed said amused about the revelation, "Well, that's something else we don't have in common."  
  
"Hey, uhh.you want something to drink?" Darien pointed to Ed's refrigerator.  
  
"Sure, uhm...a beer would be great." Ed smiled.  
  
"Claire said it was okay for you to have a beer.ah, never mind." Darien pulled out two beers and popped the caps off. He walked back to Ed's bed and handed him his beer. They clanked their bottles together, "Here's to the 'twin peeks'."  
  
"Twin peeks?" Ed asked.  
  
"Yeah, Eberts our resident pencil pusher, has a way of naming operations. When it was discovered that you were mistaken for me and taken by Arnaud, he named the case to find you 'Operation: Twin Peeks'." Darien said.  
  
Ed laughed and took a sip of his beer. He stared at his bandaged left wrist.  
  
"How's the wrist doing?" Darien asked.  
  
"Oh, its uhmm.fine." Ed paused, "I never did a get a chance to say thank you for saving my life," Ed looked at Darien. "Thanks."  
  
"I'm sorry I called you a wimp, it was pretty brave of you to go that far." Darien raised his beer bottle, "Neither a wise man nor a brave man lies down on the tracks of history to wait for the train of the future to run over him."  
  
"Dwight D. Eisenhower," Ed raised his bottle and toasted.  
  
Darien looked at Ed in surprise, "I'm impressed, I didn't think doctor geeks like you were into philosophy, only the psychiatric ones."  
  
"I'm not that kind of geek," Ed smiled and drank the last of his beer. "I'm also impressed with you."  
  
Darien smiled, "Oh, really?"  
  
"I didn't know former thieves would take interest in philosophy, let alone understand it."  
  
"I'm not that kind of a thief."  
  
Ed corrected him, "Former thief."  
  
Darien looked down at the bed and grinned, "Yeah, okay, I'll go along with that." Darien eyed the soccer game next to Ed's bed. He motioned towards it using his eyes, "Hey.how about a few games."  
  
Ed looked over at the game. He changed his gaze from the game to Darien and smiled, "You got it."  
  
"And when you're up around we'll hit the courts for a few games of one on one." Darien said.  
  
"You're on."  
  
**** Stark looked out over the City of Angels. His hands were holding a file as he gazed out the window. "So, they arrived?"  
  
"Yes, Agent Fawkes apparently stayed behind with Dr. Tate. Should we move in now and take them both?" Connor asked.  
  
"No, not yet. Tell the men to wait and just keep an eye on the twins at a safe distance. Something happened to Fawkes and we need to find out what that was first." Stark looked at the file in his hands, he turned to face Connor, "Soon, not only will Fawkes provide us with the gland in his head but a scientist to replace Kate Easton." Stark threw the file on the desk and it opened to reveal a very detailed background report on Ed.  
  
Connor glanced down at the UCLA School of Medicine logo and smiled.  
  
TBC. 


	2. Chapter 2

Thanks for reading folks. This chapter contains talk of reproduction so be warned if there are any young eyes around.  
  
Alli and MM  
  
Chapter 2  
  
After a couple of more days of rest per Claire's orders, Ed was able to return to the lab. Claire had removed the stitches from the various wounds Ed collected on his adventure into the world of Darien Fawkes. Claire had commented that not even Darien had required as many stitches as Ed did in one week. Claire had smiled and given Ed the green light to return to work.  
  
Tom, Darien, Hobbes and Sloan were off in a secluded area so Tom could instruct Darien. Sloan wanted to document the training to get a better understanding of Dominant behavior. Hobbes was there to make sure that Darien didn't harm anybody if things got out of hand.  
  
Tom needed Darien to release his dominant side and the only way to do that was to make Darien feel threatened. Tom looked at Hobbes and Sloan, "Get ready."  
  
Sloan nodded and started her video camera. Hobbes got the tranquilizer gun ready, "There's enough juice in here to take down an elephant."  
  
Darien rolled his eyes, "Thanks, Hobbes."  
  
Tom looked at Darien, "Don't hold back."  
  
"Okay, lets rock."  
  
Tom grabbed Darien and flipped him on his back. Hobbes shuddered at the sound that Darien's body made on the floor, "Ouch."  
  
Sloan watched through the viewer. She had already documented a few of the training sessions while they were in San Diego. Tom and Darien could out last any WWF wrestler and their matches were better, not to mention this was not for entertainment.  
  
Tom wrapped his hands around Darien's neck and squeezed. Darien grabbed Tom's hands and tried to break the grip. Tom tightened his grip and Darien started gasping for air.  
  
The first time Hobbes and Sloan had seen this they almost interfered and Tom yelled at them to stay back. Hobbes had nearly clobbered Tom with the butt of his gun. But Darien had broken the grip and slammed Tom up against the wall. This is the routine for them. Hobbes hated it; it was like playing Russian Roulette.  
  
Tom's expression changed to rage when he thought back to when Darien had kissed Sloan. Darien sensed it and sent a message to Tom, 'Oh yeah, she tasted good too.'  
  
Tom started to pound Darien's head on the floor, "You stay away from her."  
  
Darien smiled, "Don't think so." His voice was raspy under the grip. Darien's dominant survival instincts came to the surface and he broke the grip. Tom's arms were stretched out and Darien smiled malevolently and he sat up quickly using his head as a battering ram. Tom fell to the ground. Darien slowly got up and grabbed Tom by his shirt and threw him across the room.  
  
Hobbes shook his head, "Kid's getting better."  
  
Tom got up and the two collided in the center of the room. They both fell to the ground and rolled around a couple of times. Darien ended up on top of Tom and now he had his hands wrapped around Tom's throat. Tom grabbed Darien's hands, "You don't need to kill to survive. It's not the way it has to be. We can coexist. We can learn from them. We won't survive without them."  
  
"It's the order of things and you know it, Tom." Darien hissed. "The strong must kill the weak."  
  
"No, that's a lie. We're not animals, we're just like them.we evolved from them. Killing is senseless. You don't have to kill, you can love, Sloan taught me that." Tom said as he felt Darien's grip loosen but he dared not break it yet. Darien was almost there.  
  
"Love is a human feeling, it shows weakness."  
  
"No.it's not a weakness, it's a strength.to love is not a weakness."  
  
"They fear us, they kill what they fear, and we should kill them first." Darien said.  
  
"We do the same, Darien. We fear them and we kill them, when does it end? You can ignore the instinct to kill. Just look inside you." Tom felt Darien release his grip.  
  
"I can control this," Darien slumped to the ground and then rolled onto his back. He covered his eyes with his arm. "I.can.control.this," he panted.  
  
Hobbes walked over to Darien and knelt down next to him, "You okay there, partner?"  
  
"Yeah, how'd I do this time?" Darien moved his arm and let it flop down at his side.  
  
"No bloody noses this time," Hobbes smiled.  
  
Sloan put her camera down and ran over to Tom. He sat up and looked at Darien, "Very good, you're learning."  
  
Darien sat up, "It's like learning right from wrong all over again and I flunked that the first time around."  
  
"We'll make sure you don't flunk again," Sloan said with a smile. She had been far enough away where she didn't hear the exchange between Darien and Tom. But she knew something was wrong, she could still feel the tension.  
  
Both Darien and Tom looked at each other. Sloan recognized the look, "Who is it Tom?"  
  
"Spidey sense tingling there, Fawkesy?"  
  
Darien merely shook his head in agreement, "Someone's coming."  
  
Hobbes reached for his gun. Darien stopped him, "No..it's okay, Hobbes.he's.he's like Tom."  
  
Sloan stared at Tom, "Do you know who it is?"  
  
Tom raised a brow, "Yes, I do."  
  
"He's a bald, black dude." Darien looked at Hobbes, "What?" Darien asked quickly as he glanced at everyone, "I can see him."  
  
Sloan smiled, "Mark Ward!" She ran for the door and opened it up for her friend.  
  
"Hello, Sloan." Mark said. He reached out and hugged her.  
  
**** Ed worked on the gene therapy and a way to reinforce the gland. He had worked long hours and Claire had spent most of her time with him. He had shown her more of his research, hoping that she would be able to help with the serum.  
  
"Kelly and her friend Darcy, we believe may, have been the first test subjects. We never did find Darcy. I can only speculate that Lewis had her and had the same outcome I did with Kelly. I've tried to use gene therapy and genome mapping to alter their message RNA like they did to Darien. But I've had no success, even after all these years. I tried it on Tom and well, it didn't work." Ed said. He looked down at his notes.  
  
"You liked her didn't you?" Claire asked.  
  
"Kelly, yeah, I did," Ed paused and then smiled, "She was a lot younger than me." He looked at Claire, knowing what she was thinking, "But I didn't cross that doctor/patient line. I wanted to, but.I really wanted to save her and I couldn't." His tone switched to sadness.  
  
"Not your fault, Ed. We can't save everybody and you know that." Claire put her hand on his shoulder. She knew that he was beating himself up over what happened with Kelly.  
  
"I know, Claire. I thought I had gotten over it, but I guess with what happened to Darien sort of brought it back out into the open again." Ed sighed, "Okay, I guess we should perfect the gene therapy. Walter injected another monkey with the dominant serum yesterday. I'll check Jonesy's DNA."  
  
Claire laughed, "Jonesy.you have a monkey named Jonsey?"  
  
"Yeah, why.didn't you have a rat named Darien?"  
  
"Of course, but you chose a name of an FBI agent that Bobby hates. He'll appreciate this." Claire smiled.  
  
Ed smiled back, "Come on, I'll introduce you to him."  
  
  
  
**** Hobbes stared suspiciously at the guest. He leaned towards Sloan to whisper in her ear, "Can this mook really be trusted?"  
  
"He's not a 'mook' Hobbes. He risks his life for co-existence. Walter trusts him and so do Tom and I. He and Walter set up a meeting with the leader of the co-existence faction about four years. It was all a set up by Walter's boss; she had no intentions on pursuing co-existence. Walter and Mark were nearly killed, including Ray who went along as backup, but unfortunately, the leader of the co-existence faction was killed. Since then, Mark has taken over." Sloan said as she watched intently the three dominant males in deep conversation.  
  
"I'll still keep my eyes on him. Even though Fawkes can snap my neck like a twig, he's still my partner."  
  
"How'd you know that's how they kill," Sloan asked curiously.  
  
"Just by way these two work out their aggression, they always go for the throat." Hobbes said.  
  
"You're very observant, Hobbes."  
  
"Always." Hobbes shot Sloan a look that showed he trusted no one.  
  
Sloan studied him for a moment and then spoke softly, "You can trust us, Hobbes."  
  
"Sorry sister, but Bobby Hobbes trusts no one but his partner." Hobbes leaned away from Sloan to hear what the other three men were talking about.  
  
Tom left Darien and Mark to talk to each other. He approached Sloan and Hobbes. "Well, what up with the brooder there?" Hobbes asked.  
  
Tom raised a brow at the teasing name, "His name is Mark Ward. He's the new leader of the co-existence faction."  
  
"Yeah, yeah, I got that already. But what is he doing here and how did he know we would be here?" Hobbes rapid fired off his double question.  
  
"They know about Darien, that he was human and that Lewis converted him into a dominant." Tom said.  
  
"They? You mean this co-existence group?" Hobbes asked wanting to make sure his facts were straight.  
  
"Yes, that's right, Hobbes." Tom said in cool tone.  
  
"What do they want with Darien?" Sloan asked.  
  
"They want him to join the faction, as a sort of liaison between the humans and dominants." Tom turned to look at the two men who were still talking.  
  
"We also may have another problem," Tom announced calmly.  
  
"How come I'm not surprised?" Hobbes added.  
  
"Lewis is looking for Darien. The High Council has ordered him to bring Darien before them." Tom said.  
  
Hobbes noted the look of fear on Sloan's face, "High Council.what is that? Like a dominant version to a City Council?" Hobbes asked.  
  
"You're not too far off, Hobbes. The High Council is the dominant version of your federal government. But they have different ambitions." Tom said.  
  
"Like, wiping us out?" Hobbes asked.  
  
Tom merely nodded his head to answer Hobbes question. Sloan grabbed Tom's arm, "We can't let them have Darien or let Lewis get his hands on him again." Sloan stared wide eyed at the Darien. She knew that if Lewis had Darien again, it would mean trouble.  
  
"Okay, but you still haven't answered my other question. How did he know that we were here?" Hobbes demanded. "If he knows, then I'd say this Lewis person does too."  
  
Tom and Sloan look at each other. Tom spoke first, "I suggest we find a new place."  
  
****  
  
Ed opened up the cage and the monkey leaped out and landed on Ed's shoulder. Claire laughed. "Jonesy, meet Claire."  
  
Claire reached her hand out and shook Jonesy's hand, "Well, hello there Jonesy, nice to meet you."  
  
The monkey let out a squeal as if it was saying hi to Claire. "He's so cute; all I have are rats, a snake, a tarantula to keep Darien in line and a tank full of piranhas."  
  
"You may want to use a monkey in your research instead of rats. They are our closest relative." Ed walked back to the lab with Jonesy perched on his shoulder.  
  
"I might do that, besides, he looks like Darien." Claire's eyes went wide at what she said.  
  
Ed slowly turned his head to look at her, "Some how, I fit that remark."  
  
"I'm sorry," Claire chuckled.  
  
Ed did the DNA test on Jonesy and his differential was 1.6%. Claire looked at Ed, "Amazing, but Darien suffered greatly during his conversion, does that happen with the monkeys?"  
  
"No, not to that extent, they normally run high fevers like Darien did. Kelly had bad headaches and stomach cramps also. Maybe the serum affects our Central Nervous System differently." Ed drew some more blood from Jonesy and put him back in his cage. He didn't want to test the gene therapy on Jonesy yet.  
  
Sloan walked in with a package in her hand. Hobbes, Darien and Tom were right her behind her. They found Claire and Ed peering into microscopes.  
  
"Hey, what's up?" Darien said looking at some lab equipment. He picked up two beakers filled with chemicals.  
  
Claire looked up and jumped from her seat, "We've talked about this, Darien." She took the two beakers away from him.  
  
"I wasn't going to mix them up," Darien said innocently. Ed smiled.  
  
"Ed, I have a present for you," Sloan said handing Ed the package.  
  
"Sloan," Ed said in surprise, "you didn't have too." Ed opened the box and a huge smile appeared across his face.  
  
"Think of it as a 'welcome back to normal' gift." Sloan kissed Ed on his cheek.  
  
Ed pulled out a puka shell necklace. "Sloan, it's just like my other one." Ed put it on with enthusiasm. He was like a kid getting the gift he always wanted.  
  
Hobbes, Claire and Darien stared at each other.  
  
"Arnaud cut off the other one. He thought there was a tracking device in it," Ed said. He noticed the confused looks in the room.  
  
"Arnaud thought that I would wear something like that?" Darien asked.  
  
"Well, your tastes in clothing are rather odd, my friend. Besides, I wouldn't criticize the good Doc's fashion sense, my orange shirt wearing partner." Hobbes commented.  
  
"Word," Darien low-fived Hobbes.  
  
Ed, Claire and Sloan started laughing. Tom was totally confused. Sloan reached behind her and gave something to Darien.  
  
Darien eyed the cup suspiciously, "Okay, so, what do I do with this?"  
  
"I need a sample," Sloan smiled.  
  
"A sample.like a urine sample?" Darien was hopeful.  
  
"Ahh.no," Sloan pulled out a Playboy magazine and handed it to Darien, "Happy reading."  
  
Darien looked beaten, and then shook his head side to side, "Nah, I don't think so."  
  
"Darien, we need to know if your spermatozoa carry the dominant DNA and to see how fertile you are." Sloan said.  
  
"What? How fertile I am? What is that supposed to mean?"  
  
"It means that she wants to know the volume of the spermatozoa.you know, see how many you have in one ejaculation." Ed said. He started to chuckle, "Don't worry, she did this to Tom too."  
  
"You're supposed to be helping me here," Darien sneered at Ed. He grudgingly grabbed the cup and magazine, grumbling as he walked out the door.  
  
Everyone looked at each other and started laughing. Claire slapped Ed on his back lightly, "You shouldn't laugh, if Darien hadn't been mistaken for you, you would be in there instead of him."  
  
Ed grabbed Claire by her waist and pulled her down to sit on her lap, "Yeah, I guess your right. Poor guy, we've put him through hell haven't we?"  
  
Hobbes eyed the situation. He didn't like what he just witnessed. The look that Claire was giving Ed was making matters worse. He needed to leave and fast, "Anyone want some coffee? I'm.ahhh.going to step outside for some fresh air."  
  
Everyone raised their hands. Tom decided to go and help Hobbes. He sensed some anger and figured that it had to do with Ed and Claire. The two had been getting closer and it was showing.  
  
A few moments later, Darien came back and noticed less people, "Here is my deposit."  
  
"Wow.that was fast," Sloan realized what she said, "Well, you know.I.uhmm."  
  
"Forget it, Sloan, damage has been done." Ed smirked.  
  
"Thank you very much," Darien said sarcastically. "Where are Hobbes and Tom?"  
  
"They went to get some coffee, I told them to bring you something or would you prefer a cigarette?" Claire couldn't resist the comment. Sloan and Ed started laughing.  
  
"Okay.very funny.I'm just going to go over here and mix up some labels." Darien went to the back of the lab.  
  
Ed went back to work and typed some information into the computer to run some tests. Claire walked over to Sloan to help her with the specimen that Darien provided, much to Darien's dismay.  
  
Sloan measured the amount. She gave a sample to Claire and prepared it to go under a microscope. Darien rolled his eyes, "Is nothing sacred anymore?"  
  
Ed looked at Darien and smiled. He went back to the computer and started to type.  
  
"Ed, come here and have a look at this," Claire called out to Ed.  
  
Darien banged his head on the desk, "Ah crap, she's gonna get him involved in this too."  
  
Ed laughed and peered into the microscope, "Whoa.just like Tom."  
  
Darien rolled his eyes again, "Now what is that supposed to mean?"  
  
"We'll have to run some more tests but I would say that you're highly fertile, more than 70% percent of the spermatozoa are motile." Ed said.  
  
"And you're definitely in the hyperspermia category," Sloan added.  
  
"Okay, I really hate it when you science types talk like that. What does it all mean?" Darien was irritated.  
  
"Like Ed said, you're highly fertile. We'll just have to run the tests on the DNA part, but I would." Claire was interrupted.  
  
"I know.I know.safe sex." Darien waved his hand in the air.  
  
"Okay, I read that the bio part of the gland is chromosomally female.just because it's female.but, without ovaries I doubt there are female hormones to interfere with Darien's reproductive system." Ed rubbed his chin with his hand as he thought out loud.  
  
"Ovaries? What would that have to do with anything?" Darien asked.  
  
Claire and Sloan smiled at each other, "Well, Darien, the ovaries produce female hormones like estrogen. What Ed is saying is that even though the gland is chromosomally female, without ovaries it has no effect on your spermatozoa. No ovaries, no estrogen." Claire looked at Darien. "Besides, if the gland did produce estrogen, you have...uhmmm.breasts."  
  
"What?" Darien blurted out.  
  
"Darien, its simple human biology 101. Look estrogen is the female sex hormone. That's what the ovaries release and only the ovaries can release that hormone. Estrogen is what causes breasts to grow, hips and thighs to widen, get that hour glass shape, puffy lips, softer hair and the skin becomes oily. If the gland had been releasing estrogen into your system for the past two years, you would look like one of the gals. Your muscle tone would have decreased, you would have had penile dysfunction even six months after Kevin inserted the gland and your testicles would have atrophied by now." Claire said looking at Darien.  
  
"Penile dys.okay, you're saying that I couldn't you know." Darien paused.  
  
"Get an erection." Ed stated loudly.  
  
"Thank you.I got that part, but what about the testicles.what did you say?"  
  
"Atrophy.that means waste away."  
  
Ed and Darien both have a look of discomfort on their faces. Both men turn away to grab at themselves in reassurance that everything was still in working order. Claire and Sloan giggle. "Everything okay there guys?" Sloan asked.  
  
Ed and Darien flash Sloan a 'laugh all you want to' look.  
  
Sloan looked at Claire, "I used to wonder how those cross dressers could look so good."  
  
"Estrogen.that's what they take to look more feminine. And of course the women take androgens to look more masculine." Claire said.  
  
"Hmm." Sloan responded to Claire's statement, and then turned her gaze back to the men who were still giving themselves a self exam. "Boys?"  
  
Ed and Darien turned around and Ed awkwardly smiled, "Sorry."  
  
"Yeah, sorry. Just checking to make sure plumbing was still intact." Darien looked at Ed, "I don't know why you were so concerned, you don't have a gland in your head that could have been pumping estrogen into your system."  
  
"Sympathy." Ed said.  
  
Darien smiled back at Ed and then tried to look away but he managed a quick look to his chest, "Well, at least Kevin did something right." Darien looked up at the three scientists, "Sooo...besides the fact that I can still you know what we just discussed.what you're telling me is that my." Darien moved his hand in a zig-zag pattern to simulate a swimming motion, "Are pretty strong swimmers?"  
  
Ed looked down at the floor and smiled, "In Dominant terms.yes.very."  
  
"Terrific.this can't be good. But it's better than the estrogen alternative. Why does everything have to be so complicated in my life?" Darien had a disheartened look on his face.  
  
"When was the last time you had intercourse or mas.?" Sloan asked.  
  
"Why is that important?" Darien asked quickly interrupting Sloan's question.  
  
"Cause I.need to know if your levels are high because you haven't ejaculated in a while. There are at least anywhere from 120 to 600 million sperm in one human ejaculation. Tom's sperm count went way over that number." Sloan said. She knew Tom wouldn't be embarrassed but Darien still showed some human tendencies and this was of interest to her. Darien was 1.6 but still acted more human than dominant, most of the time.  
  
Darien looked at Ed, "Okay, now that was too much information." Darien grabbed his jacket.  
  
"Where are you going, Darien?" Claire asked.  
  
"I'm gettin' outta here," Darien left the lab. The tests had gotten to him and he needed to get away from it all. Things had become different for him and he had a hard time adjusting to his new way of life.  
  
"I'll go talk to him," Sloan said and ran out after him.  
  
Ed and Claire looked at each other. "Ed, what is it?" Claire asked. She noticed his expression. He looked as if he remembered something.  
  
"That's why his levels are higher," Ed said looking at Claire, she looked a little confused, "Okay, dominant women have four uteruses that we know of anyway."  
  
"Four!?!" Claire was surprised. "And here I thought one was bad enough."  
  
Ed smiled. "Well, think of it like a dog, their uteri are shaped like a "Y" with the two horns being a uterus. Dominant women uteruses are shaped in a similar manner except they have two extra horns. There is also an ovary for each uterus."  
  
"That's evolution alright." Claire sat down.  
  
"Yeah, instead of an egg from an alternate ovary each month, they have an egg from each ovary to insure a quad conception. At least that's our theory; we haven't really had a chance to study a lot of dominant women. The ones that we have studied though, it fits the profile."  
  
"So the males would need more sperm to reach each of the four fallopian tubes. I wonder if dominant men have two to four times the amount of volume than human men. More eggs, more sperm." Claire looked at Ed.  
  
"Or it could be the same but they have stronger sperm, which would fit the whole dominant DNA..." Ed stopped his train of thought; he had noticed the way Claire stared at him. "Ahhh.no.you just stop right there." Ed protested.  
  
"Ah come on, Ed. I need a comparison and you two are practically twins as it is." Claire walked over to him and put her arms around him. "Please.this is for science after all. There's still a chance that our theory is wrong, but we won't know for sure." She held up a cup and a magazine, "You do want to know for sure don't you?"  
  
Ed stared at the cup and let out a huge sigh. He took the cup in his hand and stared at it, "Just don't mix up the samples okay."  
  
Claire kissed Ed on his cheek, "Thank you, Ed. You're such a good sport."  
  
"Yeah, yeah." Ed dragged his feet to the double glass doors.  
  
"Oh Ed, don't forget this." Claire tossed him the magazine. It flew across the room and Ed caught it in his arms.  
  
"Just wonderful," Ed leered, walked out of the lab with a sterile receptacle in one hand, the magazine folded and tucked under his other arm.  
  
  
  
TBC.. 


	3. Chapter 3

Thanks for reading folks. This chapter is the PG 13 version. The NC-17 version is posted at IMfanfic Yahoo group

Alli and MM

Disclaimers are in Chapter 1. We're still not getting paid for this.   
No rope is needed for this part.  
  
Pairings: Ed/Claire  
  
  
Chapter 3  
  
Darien stopped when he saw Sloan coming up behind him in his mind, he turned around to face her, "Sloan, please, I want to be alone."  
  
"No, what you need is someone to talk too who is on the outside of this. Now sit down and talk to me."  
  
Hesitantly, Darien sat down and took a deep cleansing breath, "Okay, you know about the mutation in the gland and that it caused quicksilver madness. But what you don't know is that Claire was forced to lie to me about the cure."  
  
"What? Who would make her do that?"  
  
"The Official. He thought that if Claire gave me the cure I would run. He was forcing her to risk my life on her belief that I would stay. Strange as this is, no matter how he looked at it, I was a dead man anyway. If I didn't get the cure I would have gone permanently nutso within the week and the gland would have been harvested. If I did get the cure, he believed I would take off."  
  
"Well obviously Claire gave you the cure."  
  
"Yeah, she did. I also found out that she had the cure for a week before she gave it to me."  
  
"Whoa…what did you do?"  
  
"I took off," Darien smiled, "and then robbed a bank."  
  
"You didn't."  
  
"I did. But I didn't take the money; I left it in the alley. It wasn't me anymore, not to mention that it wasn't fun with the invisibility. So, I joined the FBI, left my friends behind."  
  
"I'm sorry, but the Official forced you to play your hand."  
  
"Well, I ended up coming back, obviously…but I guess my point is. I've faced one thing after another with this gland. First the madness and the fear that I would kill my friends, then the fear of dying and being totally insane when it happened and now this, the whole dominant thing. I'm tired of being treated like a lab rat. I'm just something to study, to use when necessary." Darien looked down at his hands, "I don't have emotions anymore, not like love or anything like that…I just sense them and I hate it. I hate everything about this!" Darien paused; he sensed the strong emotion coming from Sloan, "Like right now, I can sense the sympathy from you. But I don't feel it for anyone else. Like when Ed was drugged and went through all that pain, I just…just was…I can't put my finger on it but it was nothing to me. I didn't feel sorry for him, it was like…aughhhh!!!" Darien buried his face in his hands. "I don't want to be like this, I want this fricken' gland out."  
  
Sloan rubbed Darien's back. She was feeling sorry for him and wanted to do something to take the pain away.  
  
"Is that bad?" Darien asked through his hands.  
  
"No, it's a typical dominant reaction," Sloan said. She continued to rub his back.  
  
"See, that's what I'm talking about. How will this affect my job, in what I do? How am I supposed to help people if I don't feel things or have these aggressive tendencies?"  
  
"That is something you will have to talk to Tom about. It's been hard for him too." Sloan said.  
  
"There was this guy, Augustin Gaither, brilliant scientist, very sadistic, but brilliant. He couldn't take the gland out." Darien looked down, "It's not that I don't have faith…"   
  
"But you're not holding your breath,"  
  
"No…that's not it, Sloan. Its faith…I don't feel it…no, more like…I don't need it." Darien looked at Sloan, "Do dominants believe in God?"  
  
"Not really, Darien. They view all earth's religions as a sign of weakness."  
  
"Great! There's goes all my time spent in Catholic School down the drain." Darien thought for a few moments, "And Christmas…crap…this really sucks."  
  
"Ed isn't going to find a way to reinforce the gland. I'm not being negative or anything like that; it's just that Claire has been trying to figure out a way for two years now." Darien looked at Sloan, "I just have to come to the realization that I'm stuck this way, for better and for worse."  
  
Sloan looked at Darien, "I'm so sorry, Darien."  
  
"It's not your fault, if Ed had been caught it would be him and who knows what would have happened. I'm like this because of the counteragent residue in my system. Ed might be dead by now."  
  
Sloan nodded in agreement. Ed would have had a different response to the serum and Ed could very well be working for the dominants or like Darien said, dead. "What does it feel like, being invisible?"  
  
"You wanna see?" Darien asked.  
  
"Yeah, I'm curious."  
  
"Okay, hold on," Darien touched her hand and let the quicksilver flow.  
  
"Whooooaaa…" Sloan felt the coldness. Her colorful world turned monochrome. "Oh my, everything is in silver."  
  
Darien quicksilvered his eyes to get a look at her, "Welcome to my world."  
  
"Darien! You're eyes!"  
  
"Oh yeah…anything that is quicksilvered will have a color to it, my eyes are quicksilvered so I can look at you." Darien remembered something about dominants, "Sloan, what color am I…not my eyes…but the rest of me."  
  
"You're like a reddish brown color, rusty maybe, like an aura is around you." Sloan remembered what Darien had said about seeing dominants while he was quicksilvered. "So, this means that anyone who is quicksilvered can differentiate dominants from humans. This is great!" She hugged Darien.   
  
Darien wrapped his arms her and held her tight. Anyone passing by would have seen someone with no eyes hugging thin air. Darien quicksilvered the rest of him, "How do I look now?"  
  
"You're orange like your eyes were, but you still have that aura." Sloan said.  
  
"Okay, well there's another test result for you." Darien ran his hand down her cheek.  
  
"Quicksilvered dominants still have that aura," Sloan said in velvety voice. She leaned into his touch. "Darien, I…"  
  
"Shhh…I know." Darien leaned in and kissed her. He was about to search her mind when Ed walked by grumbling. Darien broke the kiss. Sloan looked at Darien bewildered at first then Ed's grumbling distracted her. When Ed was out of sight, Darien broke the contact with Sloan and the quicksilver flaked away.  
  
Sloan looked at Darien, "I'm sorry, Darien, I…"  
  
"No, Sloan, I'm the one that should be sorry. I shouldn't have kissed you. You love Tom. I don't know why I did that. Well, I do know why."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Cause I'm alone." Darien responded.  
  
"You're not alone, Darien, you have us."  
  
"No, Sloan, not in that way. I've had to live a secluded life for two years now because of the gland and now this. I'm not human and I'm not a dominant, well DNA wise yeah, but I wasn't born like this. Not to mention these abilities I have. I just don't fit in with either group." Darien looked despondent, "I'm a circus freak, Sloan. Come see the dominant that can turn invisible and read your mind better than Ms. Cleo."  
  
Sloan put her hand on Darien's shoulder, "Don't think of yourself that way, you're special."  
  
"Oh yeah, special alright…so special that I have to constantly look over my shoulder cause there is always someone who wants what's inside my head. Can't have a steady girlfriend unless she's been debriefed by the government cause I'm a threat to national security when I suddenly do my hocus pocus act right when things get interesting. Oh yeah, I'm feeling real special right now." Darien gazed at Sloan, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to sound so rude, but it's the truth."   
  
Sloan looked puzzled, "Hocus pocus act…what do you mean?"  
  
"Don't ask..."  
  
Darien paused, he stared at the floor while he spoke out loud, "A soulful sister by the name of Jill Scott poetically wrote, "Everybody wants the hero. Who just wants the man that fights with his devils and does the best he can?" He looked at Sloan, "But in my case its not me they want, it's the gland. I'm nothing more than a receptacle. The Official made that loud and clear when he told me it was never about me. Even Hobbes was hired to protect the gland, not me. I was used as a commodity and still am. The counteragent was meant to be a leash and boy was it tightened a few times around my neck. If I take off, I'll be hunted down and the gland harvested, that's my leash now."  
  
Sloan didn't know what to say. Darien was obviously in a state of depression and she figured that with him, this is common. "Darien, I'm sorry that fate has dealt you this hand, but I want to be your friend, someone you can talk to. Don't hold this inside; you'll only   
make it worse."  
  
Darien half smiled, "Thanks, Sloan, guess I'm no Fun Bobby."  
  
Sloan laughed, "No, Darien, you're not exactly the life of a party, but you do have a neat trick." Sloan looked down the hall, "I wonder what Ed was so angry about?"  
  
"Ah…that's simple…Claire is making him give well, you know…a sample too. She wants to compare it with mine." Darien chuckled, "Now he knows how I feel, looks like I'm not the only lab rat."  
  
Sloan laughed, "Poor Ed…I'm surprised he's agreeing to it."  
  
"Yeah…he's got it bad," Darien looked at Sloan, "He's in love."  
  
"Did you get that from reading his mind?"  
  
"Nope, didn't have to on that one. It shows all on its own." Darien looked down, "Sloan, Ed needs to stop with his research on the gene therapy."  
  
Sloan looked confused, "Why?"  
  
"If he succeeds, it will start a war. Do you think dominants are going to line up and get this injection like their getting a flu shot? Its not gonna happen."  
  
"That's what Tom said at first, but we have to do something, look what happened to you."  
  
"Changing humans back maybe one thing, but changing a species is something else. You don't want to be converted, so what makes you think they will?" Darien took Sloan's hand in his, "There has to be another way, a way that won't cause a war. I get the whole co-existence thing that Mark was talking about. All you need is one splash and it causes a ripple. I don't know but maybe I'm that splash. As far as we know, I'm the only successful conversion, lucky me huh? I'm thinking that it's for a reason, you know what I'm saying?"  
  
"Yeah, I do."  
  
  
****

  
Darien and Sloan had returned back to the lab when Tom and Hobbes showed up with coffee. "Where's the nerd?" Hobbes asked sarcastically.  
  
"Bobby!" Claire said giving Hobbes a disgruntled look.   
  
Darien chuckled and Tom raised a brow. Tom didn't understand all the bantering and name calling that Hobbes and Darien were so found of doing. Hobbes sat down on one of chairs. He mumbled as he drank his coffee. "Wa-ha-ho Dr. M.D., Ph.D. big shot immuno something or other expert hack," Hobbes said into his cup of coffee.  
  
Darien scratched at his scar behind his neck and smirked, "What was that Hobbesy?"   
  
Hobbes shot Darien a look from across the room, "What? Now you've got super hearing or something or did you read my mind?"  
  
Now Claire was becoming concerned. Bobby appeared very angry about something. Claire had a pretty good idea why. "Bobby, are you alright?"  
  
Darien looked around the room like he was looking for something, "Were there any jingle bell cards lying around here or in the cafeteria?"  
  
"No…mister-smarty pants…for your information, my anger is sincere." Hobbes got up, "I'm going back to the hotel, if you need me for anything I'll be there." Hobbes walked to the double doors and pushed it open with his back. He gave everyone a distressed look and waved his hand in the air, "I'll be alone, conceding defeat."  
  
Everyone looked at each other astonished at Hobbes behavior. Claire walked over to Darien, "It's because of me isn't it?"

  
"Well, actually you and Ed. Claire, Hobbes loves you and I know you know, but I don't think he knows that you know…whoa…almost sounded like Hobbes for a moment."   
  
Claire had a half hearted smile on her face. She looked down at the ground and shuffled her feet.  
  
Darien became serious, "You've got to talk to Hobbes about this. He should talk to you, but he won't cause he's so hung up on this `No fishing off the company pier thing'. You know how he gets; look what happened with his ex."  
  
"Yeah, you're right, I should talk to him." Claire smiled, "For the first time since I started working at the agency, I finally found someone that I really enjoy being with."  
  
"You really like Ed don't you?"  
  
"I do, Darien, I really do. I want to get to know him more, spend more time with him." Claire blushed.  
  
Darien raised both brows from the vision that hit him from Claire, "Claire! Geesh, not here okay." Darien paused, "Don't you find it weird cause we're like twins or something."  
  
"Darien, you two may look alike, but you are very different." Claire winked and walked away to go back to her tests.  
  
Darien looked puzzled, "I'm not sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing."  
  
Ed came back and handed the cup to Claire and hid in his office. Darien came in and sat down in front of Ed's desk. He played with Ed's name plate for a short time and then put it back. Ed smiled at the child like manner of his younger twin. During the talk they had   
a couple of days ago they discovered that Ed was older than Darien by just a couple of years. In fact, if Kevin was still alive today, he and Ed would be the same age. It had been all too weird for both of them and they had quickly changed the subject.  
  
Ed frowned, "This is completely embarrassing, I mean look at them," Ed motioned towards Claire and Sloan, "They act like a couple of kids in a candy store, they're practically drooling."  
  
Darien sat with his arms crossed, "And I've had two years of this kind of crap…welcome to my world." Darien looked at Ed, "You wanna go for a beer?"  
  
"I wish I could, but I've got two weeks worth of research to catch up on. How about tomorrow?"  
  
Darien gave Ed a low-five, "Sure thing, bro. I'll catch you later and ah…be good."  
  
Ed smiled and watched as Darien swaggered out of his office. Ed got up and went back out into the lab. He did have a lot of work to do and even though tomorrow was Saturday, he planned on coming in anyway to do some work. Darien was right about him, his life was in the lab.  
  
  
****

  
Connor walked into Stark's office and sat down.  
  
"It seems that Dr. Ed Tate is working on a gene therapy to turn these Dominants into humans, which would help our cause immensely. The problem he's facing right now is getting it to hold and how to administer this `vaccine'," Stark said from behind his desk.  
  
"How do you know all this?" Connor asked.  
  
"Dr. Tate is providing the information and he doesn't even know it," Stark got up and looked out the window. "And it seems like our friend Darien Fawkes is not what he used to be. He's a dominant now." Stark turned around and faced Connor, "Bring me the lamb and the fox will follow."  
  
Connor stood up and smiled. He walked out of Stark's office to get his men ready.  
  
****

  
Walter walked out to his car and a limo pulled up. He turned and waited. The window came down, "Hello, Walter."  
  
"You really screwed things up in San Diego; you handed one of my scientists to Lewis and nearly got him killed." Walter said angrily.  
  
"You better watch what you say." The lady in the limo handed Walter an envelope, "And you better watch that scientist." The window went back up and the limo drove away.  
  
Walter sat in his car and read transcripts from phone calls and emails. He slapped the papers down on his lap, "Ed!?!" He started the car and drove off.  
  
  
**** 

  
Ed sat on the stool peering into the microscope, "Claire, hand me that next slide please." He held out his hand and took the slide. Ed carefully pushed out the current slide and placed the next one under the microscope. He adjusted the lenses, "Okay, here goes nothing." Ed scooted over to the computer and started the program. Claire stood behind him and watched the simulation.  
  
"Come on, hold together…" Ed watched as the simulated gland on the monitor ripped apart. "Damn it!" He bowed his head in defeat, "It should have worked…I'm missing something here."  
  
Claire sighed, "You need to take a break, Ed. It's late." Unconsciously, Claire started to massage his shoulders and neck. She could feel the tension and the tightness in his muscles.   
  
Ed moaned, "Ohh, that feels good."  
  
"Take your coat off," Claire said.  
  
Ed took his lab coat off and set it down on the stool next to him. Claire massaged his shoulders and neck. Ed groaned again. "Feel good, Dr. Tate?" Claire asked.  
  
"Ooh yeah, just what the doctor ordered," Ed sighed. He noticed with embarrassment that another part of his body was taking an interest in the massage. `Ah no, not here, not now. Okay, get a grip Ed…think about Grandma Tate…yeah…okay…grandma…with long blonde hair and beautiful blue eyes…shit…'  
  
Ed put his hands on top of Claire's, "Claire." He turned around and got up from the stool.   
  
"What's the matter, Ed?" Claire asked as she looked up at him. Her hands traveled up his chest to rest on top of his shoulders.  
  
Ed put his hands on each side of her face; his fingers pushed her hair aside. He bent his head down with his lips slightly parted. She looked at his eyes and then his mouth, her mouth slightly opened. She closed her eyes as she felt his lips gently touch hers and placed a soft kiss on her.  
  
Ed moved his head back to see her response. Claire wrapped her arms around him and they kissed again, this time the kiss became more passionate. Ed's tongue licked her slightly parted lips seeking permission to enter.   
  
Claire opened her mouth and their tongues invaded each other's mouths for the first time. Ed moved his hands to pull her in closer to his body and she moaned when she felt him. Their lips were pressing harder against each other now. They broke the kiss and Ed   
trailed kisses down her neck. Claire's head went back and she sighed, "Ahh, Ed." Her hands snuck under his shirt and she ran her nails down his back.  
  
Ed's hand trailed up Claire's side slowly and he stopped at the side of her breast. He kissed his way back up her neck and found her mouth again.  
  
Hobbes didn't know how long he stood there at the double glass doors watching, but he couldn't take it any longer. Half way back to the hotel he decided to turn around and apologize to Claire for his behavior and tell her how he really felt. But as he was about to   
open the doors, he saw the woman he loved embraced by another man.   
  
Hobbes first instinct was to go in there and punch Ed Tate right in the face. But he stopped himself, it would only drive Claire further away then he already had. He knew it was his own fault, he had made a choice not to fish off the company pier and Claire had made a choice to go into the arms of Ed Tate. Why not, he's smart like Kevin and looks like Fawkes. What more could Claire want? Hobbes silently wished Claire all the best and decided that if Tate hurt her, he would take him out. He walked away and drove to the hotel, alone.  
  
Claire and Ed had not seen Hobbes as he stood at the doors. Ed broke the kiss, "Claire, if you don't want to go further let me know now."  
  
"Ed, I haven't been so sure about anything in my life." Claire moved her hand and touched the side of Ed's face.  
  
"Then I suggest we go somewhere else," Ed motioned towards the corner of the room near the ceiling, "We were about to give the security guard a show he won't forget."  
  
"Hmmm…that would not be good. I'll get my things." Claire rushed off to Ed's office and grabbed her purse.   
  
Ed walked out with his arm around Claire. They walked by the security guard and smiled at him. The guard smiled back, "Have a good night, Dr. Tate."  
  
"Oh, I think I will," Ed answered back as they walked out the glass doors and Claire hit him in the ribs.  
  
  
****  
  
The occupant in the car watched as the two scientists made their way to the van. Ed opened the door for Claire to get in and then ran around to the driver's side. The old VW van drove off with its unsuspecting occupants.   
  
The car followed behind, but not to close. The driver picked up his cell phone and called in. "Dr. Tate has just left the lab, he's not alone."  
  
"We'll just have to be patient. Let me know when his company leaves," the voice answered back.  
  
The driver hung up his phone and followed the van to Ed's apartment. He parked the car and waited.  
  
  
****  
  
There was a trail of clothing that went from the front door of Ed's apartment to his bed. Claire sat behind Ed who sat straight up in bed. Claire was still in her bra and panties and Ed had his boxers on. Claire massaged his scalp, "How does that feel?"  
  
"Hmmmm," Ed sighed.  
  
Claire traced the outlines of his ears with both hands and then moved to his face, tracing the cheekbones. Her hands then moved to cup the back of his head. She applied light pressure to the hollow areas in his neck. One hand gripped his chin and pulled his head towards her to stretch out his neck allowing her to apply more pressure on the points used during acupuncture. Claire did this for about five minutes.  
  
"Whoa…Claire, I'm feeling better already," Ed mused.  
  
"It's not over yet," Claire pressed her finger on the spot right between his eyebrows for about a minute and then made circular motions with her fingers on his temples.   
  
Ed felt all the tension leave his body and he relaxed even more, "You do this for Darien?"  
  
"No, now be quiet," Claire moved from behind Ed and pushed him down onto the bed, "Close your eyes." Claire continued her massage until all the tention in his body was gone.  
  
Ed wrapped his shaking arms around her.  
  
"Open your eyes, hon," Claire said. She kissed lightly around his mouth.  
  
Ed opened his eyes, "Damn, Claire, where'd you learn all that?"  
  
"How do you feel now?" Claire asked.  
  
"Like I could sleep for a year," Ed paused, "I think you broke me," Ed looked at Claire and smiled, "Guess I had a lot of tension built up in me?"  
  
"You did," Claire paused; she pushed the hair from his face and looked into his eyes. "You've been through a lot this past week; you're overworking yourself with the gland project and trying to perfect the serum. You need to relax. Your body still needs time to   
heal."  
  
Ed kissed Claire. His tongue pushed her lips and she opened her mouth. His hands worked on the clasps of her bra and soon that too joined the collection of clothes on the floor.  
  
Claire lifted her head, "Dr. Tate, what do you have in mind?"  
  
Ed flipped them over so now he was on top of Claire. "Payback," Ed said with a sexy grin and wiggled his brow.  
  
"Hmmm…paybacks are good," Claire purred.  
  
****  
  
Early the next morning, Claire woke to soft kisses on her shoulder. "Hmmm…good morning, Ed."  
  
"Good morning, Claire." Ed kissed the back of her neck then started on her other shoulder.   
  
"Oh, Ed…feels so good." Claire mumbled.  
  
"I'm not done yet," Ed mimicked Claire from the night before.  
  
  
Sometime later, Claire rested her head on Ed's chest and he wrapped his arms around her.  
  
TBC….


	4. Chapter 4

Thanks to everyone who is reading this weird but fun story.  
  
MM and Alli  
Chapter 4  
  
Ed and Claire stared up at the ceiling for a while. "You want some breakfast?" Ed asked as he broke the silence.  
  
"That would be great," Claire purred. She watched as Ed got out of bed and put his boxers on. He went to the kitchen and started to make some breakfast.  
  
"Do you like scrambled eggs?" Ed had his head in the refrigerator when he asked Claire.  
  
Claire propped herself up on one elbow as she watched Ed pull out an egg carton, milk and some other things, "That's fine." She watched as Ed prepared breakfast.  
  
Across the street, a black Lincoln with dark tinted windows had parked in the place of the other one that had followed Ed and Claire earlier. The solitary occupant's phone rang.  
  
"Yes." he listened as he stared up at Ed's apartment window, "No, they've been here all night. No one left and no one came for a visit." the man checked his watch, "Yes.I'll keep an eye Dr. Tate until my relief reports in."  
  
Completely unaware that they were being watched, Ed and Claire finished breakfast. Ed looked at his watch and saw that it was still early. Being Saturday there really was no set time he had to go to work; it was all voluntary on his part. He realized it had been weeks since he surfed and he really wanted to get back out on his board.  
  
"I'm going on dawn patrol, you wanna come and watch?" Ed asked wondering if Claire would understand.  
  
"Really? You want me to watch?" Claire was wondering when Ed was going to ask her.  
  
"You know what I'm talking about?" Ed looked at her and smiled. She understood after all.  
  
"Yeah, I am from Australia you know. I would love to watch you surf," Claire said. "It must be beautiful this early in the morning."  
  
Ed smiled, "It is." Ed put his dishes in the sink, he turned and leaned up against the counter, "Sometimes I like to surf this early it helps clear my head so I can face the day. Let me get my trunks on.oh wait.I don't think I have a bathing suit for you though."  
  
"I hope not," Claire said as she winked at Ed. "Don't worry, I'll manage."  
  
Ed looked at her and smiled, "Hold on, I've got some shirts for you to wear. Maybe one of my shorts will fit, may look baggie but at least you'll be comfortable."  
  
Claire watched as Ed threw on the couch a top with long sleeves and a pair of shorts. Claire picked up the top and watched Ed get dress. He was wearing a blue/black rash guard top and it fit his body tight. Claire could see every curve of muscle. But that was nothing compared to the surf trunks he put on. They were the same color and just as form fitting. A typical surfer wet suit.  
  
Claire shook her head from side to side. Ed caught her gaze and looked at himself, "What?"  
  
"Ed.you look absolutely.fantastic in that." Claire couldn't help but stare. He obviously was completely unaware of how he looked. Ed wears baggie clothes and it hides his physique, but what he had on now, showed off what was normally hidden under his clothes. 'Why on earth this man doesn't have women lining up at the door is beyond me, but I'm glad,' Claire thought to herself as she gathered up the clothes Ed had given her and headed for the bathroom.  
  
Ed blushed, "Thanks Claire." Ed grabbed his bag and started to pack some things for the beach.  
  
Claire came out of the bathroom and modeled for Ed. "You look great, you even look like a 'honey'," Ed said. He liked the way Claire looked wearing his clothes.  
  
"Well, I may even have a few tricks up my sleeve." Claire said running her hand up and down Ed's board.  
  
Ed watched her hand carefully and swallowed deeply, "Wait, you are a 'honey', I mean you surf?"  
  
Claire moved up against Ed's body, "I know what the term means.a female surfer.no, actually I don't know how to surf. But I sure could use a teacher."  
  
Ed opened the door and let Claire go by first, "I'm surprised that you guys don't surf in San Diego, you have 'da kine' waves there."  
  
"Da kine? I'm afraid I don't know that one." Claire said.  
  
Ed locked his door and carried his board under his arms, "I'm not surprised, it's a Hawaiian slang term for 'good or the best'."  
  
"You have a whole other language don't you?" Claire said.  
  
"Yeah, we do brah.hopefully I won't get hammered and the nalu will be primo." Ed chuckled.  
  
"What?" Claire looked at Ed like he was someone else.  
  
Ed laughed, "'Brah' is a Hawaiian slang term for 'brother'. And what I said was.I hope I won't take a pounding and that the waves will be great."  
  
"Hanging around you is going to be very interesting. And Darien complains when I speak scientist, he hasn't heard you speak surfer."  
  
Ed placed his board carefully inside his van along with the bag. The two got in and drove off. The black Lincoln followed behind.  
  
Claire sat on the blanket that Ed brought for her. She watched from the shore as Ed caught a wave. He stood up and turned his board from side to side to pick up speed. Claire saw him bend down with arms outstretched for balance and he disappeared under the curl of the wave. She clapped like a school girl and shouted. She watched as he came from under the curl. His speed had slowed and he tried to turn the board again but he misjudged the speed of the wave. Ed's board went up the backside of the breaking wave and his board angled straight up in the air. Ed cannon balled off the board and hit the water. All Claire could see was his board go straight up in the air like a rocket.  
  
Claire got to her feet and ran to shore line. She looked out over the horizon and saw Ed grab his board. She let out a sigh and smiled. He waved to her to let her know he was okay. Ed got back on the board and paddled to his position to wait for the next one.  
  
Ed had surfed for a while and he brought his board in. He leaned it up against a board rack and sat down on the blanket. Claire gave him a water bottle. "You looked great out there, Ed. I didn't realize how good you really are."  
  
"It's been a while, I'm rusty but thanks. Not too many people believe that I surf or that I'm a doctor. It's an odd combination, but surfing is something I enjoy. Most doctors play golf to relax.I surf." Ed took a drink of water and looked at his watch, "Guess we need to go. You still need to go to the hotel to change. I like seeing you in my clothes but."  
  
Claire ran her hand down his tanned cheek, "I would rather wear your clothes in private, not in public. I don't want to look like Daryl Hannah in 'Splash'."  
  
Ed laughed, "Now there's a mental picture.would you wear my underwear too?"  
  
Claire leaned closer to Ed. She could smell the combination of the salt water and the lotion on his damp skin, "Maybe," Claire whispered seductively.  
  
A deep growl rumbled in Ed's throat. Claire licked her lips slowly and ran her hand over his taut muscular chest. "Do you have any idea what you do to me?" Ed asked in a low voice.  
  
"I got a pretty good idea last night and this morning." Claire kissed along his jaw up to his ear.  
  
Ed grabbed Claire and rolled over on top of her. He brushed the hair from her face. He gazed into her blue eyes, "I think I'm falling in love with you, Dr. Keeply," he paused and then stared at her warily, "Is that your real name?"  
  
"I can't tell you that, it's for the protection of the project and my family. Please understand, Ed, I have to keep my true identity a secret." Claire gazed into Ed's chocolate colored eyes.  
  
"Its okay, Claire, I understand. But I'm still falling in love with you.whoever you are."  
  
"And I think I'm falling in love with you, Dr. Tate?" Claire ran her hand through his wet hair. Ed bent down and kissed her as she wrapped her arms around him.  
  
Ed broke the kiss, "We better get going. I'll drive you back to the hotel." Ed got up and helped Claire to her feet.  
  
They put their things back in the van. Ed carefully laid his board inside the van. Ed turned to Claire, "I'll be right back. I'm going to shower off."  
  
Claire nodded, "I'll wait here."  
  
Ed went to restroom area and took his shirt off. He stood under the spray for a few minutes. When he felt that most of the sand was off, he dried off and put on a tank top. He would take a real shower when he got home.  
  
Ed put down some plastic and then a towel on top of that on the car seat. He gave Claire a double look, "Oh.I don't want to get the seat wet and frankly I don't like using the public showers."  
  
"Don't blame you at all. I don't use them either," Claire sat down on the passenger seat. Ed got in and they headed towards the hotel.  
  
The black Lincoln slowly pulled out and followed. "They just left the beach.no, I haven't been spotted.okay, I'll let you know as soon as he's alone."  
  
Ed drove Claire to the hotel. He parked the van at the drop off. Before getting out, she leaned over and kissed him, "Hmm.still have a salty taste."  
  
Ed smiled at her and pulled her in for another kiss. This time their lips met slightly parted, their tongues tasted each other. Claire ran her hand down the front of Ed's tank top, slipping her hand underneath and felt his chest rise with each deep breath. They broke the kiss to get some air. Their foreheads touched and both tried to catch their breath.  
  
"Claire, I.I need to."  
  
"I know.I'll see you later at the lab." Claire broke the contact that their heads had made and she opened the door. With the clothes in a bag from the night before, she got out of the car and watched Ed pull away. She went to the elevator and went up to her room.  
  
Ed reached his apartment in record time. He grabbed his board and the blanket and rushed up stairs. He figured he had enough time to take a quick shower and get to the lab. Since it was Saturday, no one would be there and he could do some work in peace. He unlocked his door and walked inside.  
  
To Ed's surprise, someone was standing there. Ed's survival instincts kicked in and he threw his board at the man to distract him. Ed turned to run out of his apartment, but was met by another man who had waited behind the door. Ed stopped momentarily as his exit was blocked. He shook himself from the sudden fear that paralyzed him and attempted to launch himself at the other man. Ed had planned to push his way through like a defensive tackle who tried to sack the quarterback. Ed's forward motion stopped as Connor came up from behind him and used the hypo.  
  
Ed felt something on his neck and then a cool liquid going into his skin. "You gotta be kidding me," he said as he collapsed to the floor.  
  
"Get some clothes for him. I'll carry him to the car." Connor said to the other man. He picked up Ed off the floor and carried him to the limo. Stark opened the door and watched as Connor put Ed into the limo.  
  
"Good work as usual," Stark said with a smile. He got in the limo and they drove off.  
  
****  
  
Claire walked into the lab. "Ed!" She called out thinking he was already since the doors were opened.  
  
"Claire?" Hobbes answered. He sounded like he wasn't expecting her.  
  
"Bobby?" Claire walked towards Attwood's office. "What's going on here? We didn't expect all of you to be here." She saw Attwood, Hobbes, Sloan and Ray sitting around the room. The only ones missing were Tom, Darien and Ed.  
  
"We? Who else is supposed to be here?" Attwood asked.  
  
"Why, Ed of course. We were supposed to meet here to continue some testing. Now, please answer my question." Claire put her hands on her hips.  
  
"I received some disturbing news that someone has been leaking information from this lab to the dominants." Attwood stated. Everyone in the room looked at Claire.  
  
"Who would do something like that.maybe it's another dominant," Claire said.  
  
"No, Tom and Darien would have sensed another dominant." Sloan responded.  
  
"Not if they were masked, right?" Claire asked. She leaned up against the door frame.  
  
"Darien has a heightened sense of ESP, even their best wouldn't get under his radar. He can also point them out when he's invisible. Dominants seem to give off an aura that shows up in his field of vision. Darien said it looks like a brownish red color. And I saw it for myself." Sloan sneered in tone that dared anyone to ask her about what she said. That was one of the things she found interesting in her research. Although the description of the color is odd, it was the best Darien could do and herself.  
  
"Okay, so if it's not a dominant, do you have any idea who it might be?" Claire was anxious. She was surprised that Ed wasn't involved in the discussion let alone Darien and Tom.  
  
"We think it might be Ed," Ray said.  
  
"What? Ed? Not a chance. He's worked too hard on finding a way for the gene therapy to work, why would he throw it all away?" Claire said. She couldn't believe that they would actually blame Ed.  
  
"That's what we need to find out. You did the tests on him, are you absolutely sure there were no residual effects of the serum in him?" Attwood asked.  
  
"Yes, of course. I cleared him and I stand by it!" Accusing Ed of treason was hard enough for Claire to hear, but now she was being accused of not doing her job well.  
  
"You two have been working close lately, even staying late and going to his place together," Hobbes said in an accusing tone.  
  
"Bobby! Were you spying on us? I can't believe you. You really think that I'm helping Ed give away information?" Claire said, "Are you listening to yourselves? Ed has worked by your side for years. He's the most loyal person I know. And now you're accusing him without even talking to him. You practically have him tried and convicted without letting him defend himself."  
  
"Some of the information leaked out was about Darien as well. I think this concerns the agency. Lewis has cloned Lynch at least on two occasions now. If he finds a way to clone the gland and uses Agent Fawkes as a model to insert the gland, we could be faced with a whole new breed of dominants.with the same abilities like Agent Fawkes." Attwood said.  
  
"No.no.you're all wrong about Ed. He wouldn't risk that. Even if there was a residual effect of the drug, it wouldn't be enough to push him this far. He would have fought it. Have you forgotten that he tried to kill himself? That should be your answer right there about Ed's loyalty." Claire walked out of the office in a huff.  
  
"You better be right about this, Walter." Sloan said and walked out.  
  
Sloan caught up to Claire, "Claire! I'm sorry about what happened in there."  
  
"You know, Sloan, you didn't even defend him. You've known him for a long time. Why don't you have faith in him? He did with you when you and Tom were accused of murder." Claire said as she got in her car.  
  
"He told you about that?" Sloan asked.  
  
"Yes, we talked a lot while we worked together. He told me about the pilar, the trip to Mexico, everything. There's no way he would betray you or us for that matter. There's another answer to this mystery and I'm going to find it. The question is are you going to help me clear Ed's name?"  
  
Sloan didn't even hesitate, "Yes." She ran around to the passenger side and got in, "We're we going?"  
  
"To Ed's apartment, he should have been here by now and that's as good as any place to start." Claire started up the car and drove towards Ed's apartment.  
  
"You've fallen in love with Ed haven't you?" Sloan asked. "I hope you don't mind the girl talk."  
  
"No not all, actually I don't get to 'girl talk' that often. Alex is usually off on some case and I'm by myself in the lab. Snakes, spiders and piranhas don't make good conversationalists." Claire smiled, "And in answer to your question, yes I do believe I have fallen in love with Ed."  
  
"Does that mean that you love Darien?" Sloan asked.  
  
"No.I do love Darien but not in that way. He's a good friend and nothing more." Claire said.  
  
"Okay, so it's obviously not because they look so much alike. What is it about Ed then?" Sloan asked.  
  
"It's like he's two different people, there's the lab persona, all serious and a confident attitude. And then this child-like quality that pops out when he steps out of the lab. He's so shy that he's just bursting at the seams to shout at the world. Walter tries to manipulate him, but Ed hasn't fallen for it. He's not your typical pencil pocket beaker geek."  
  
Sloan laughed, "What did you say?"  
  
"Oh, 'pencil pocket beaker geek', it's a name that Darien called his brother, Kevin." Claire looked at Sloan who was laughing.  
  
"Darien sure does come up with some funny ones." Sloan shook her head from side to side. She had heard plenty of bantering between Darien and Hobbes the past week that she kept a list of all the names they came up with.  
  
"And what about you? I've seen the way you look at Darien." Claire said as she noticed Sloan's cheeks start to blush.  
  
"Is it that obvious?" Sloan asked and Claire nodded. Sloan turned her head to look at the scenery. "There's just something about him that I can't resist. I think it's because of the way he carries himself. He definitely hates to be manipulated and he speaks his mind. I admire that in a strange sort of way. He's been on his own for so long, this really must have been an adjustment for him."  
  
"Working for the government and having to follow orders has been interesting for him to say the least." Claire chuckled, "The first time we met I shot him with a tranquilizer dart and stuck him in the padded cell for 48 hours."  
  
"Why on earth would you do a thing like that?" Sloan was surprised at Claire's story.  
  
"I needed to see him go through quicksilver madness so I would know the signs." Claire paused, "Well, also to get him to trust me."  
  
"You have a funny way of showing it. Weren't you scared?"  
  
"Yeah, but I knew that there were guards outside waiting."  
  
"Did you ever cross the doctor/patient line with Darien?"  
  
Claire smiled, "Actually once, but he was quicksilver mad and I was not exactly firing on all cylinders."  
  
"I would love to hear this story." Sloan smiled at Claire and got herself comfortable in the passenger seat.  
  
"What.really? Okay." Claire proceeded to explain to Sloan about the Beta C drug and the day at the pier.  
  
Claire and Sloan finally arrived at Ed's apartment and Sloan couldn't get the story out of her head. They walked up the stairs and knocked on the door. No one answered. "Odd, his van was still in the parking lot," Sloan said. She tried the handle and the door opened.  
  
"I don't like this," Claire said as she pulled out her mammoth size gun. Sloan's eyes went wide. Claire snickered, "Walk softly and carry a big gun."  
  
Sloan let Claire walk in before Sloan and the first thing they both noticed was the surf board lying on the floor. "Oh bloody hell," Claire said looking at Sloan. They both bent down and looked at the board.  
  
"What do you think happened?" Sloan asked. She noticed that the fin had broken off of the underside of the board.  
  
"I'd say first off that he's not your mole. He's been taken again." Claire stood up, "His board is broken. He must have either thrown it in defense or dropped it. I don't know of a single surfer that would leave their board lying around."  
  
Sloan went to pick it up and Claire stopped her, "No, leave everything as is. I need to call Bobby."  
In no time at all, Ed's apartment was occupied by everyone other than Ed. Hobbes performed his routine search of the apartment. Tom sensed tension in the room and Darien knew what happened, the answer he wanted to know was why Walter would suspect Ed.  
  
"Okay, look, why didn't you guys ask me? I can read friggin' minds, you know what I'm saying here," Darien said more like a statement. "You'd think they'd ask the guy who would know if someone is leaking information?" Darien glared at Walter. "How did you find out anyway?"  
  
"I have my sources," was all Walter said.  
  
Darien chuckled, "Yeah, you mean the chick in the limo, the one who nabbed Ed instead of me and took him to Lewis." Darien was irritated and it showed in his body movements as he paced around Ed's apartment, "You science types are all the same. Stick with what you do best and leave the spook business to Hobbes and me, okay?"  
  
"So you believe it wasn't Ed?" Ray asked.  
  
"Ed.spying for dominants.not a chance, my friend. He tried to kill himself rather than help them. But I guess you people forgot about that tiny detail."  
  
"Then how was the information leaked if Ed didn't do it?" Walter asked.  
  
Darien rubbed the scar behind his neck. It's simple.if there was a mole in the lab I would have sensed it or at least read their intentions, right?"  
  
"Right.so." Hobbes said.  
  
"So, Einstein, someone has hacked into the computers." Darien shrugged his shoulders. "Find the hacker and you'll find Ed." Darien stopped and changed his train of thought. "Aw Crap!" he said in anger.  
  
"What is it, partner?" Hobbes asked.  
  
"What was the information that was leaked?" Darien asked.  
  
"Information about the gene therapy that Ed had been working on and your test results.Why?" Walter asked. His hands were still resting inside the pockets of his jacket. To him, Ed staged his disappearance to throw them off.  
  
Darien shook his head, he knew what Walter was thinking, "Okay, we have two options here," Darien held up one finger, "The information was leaked to Lewis." he held up a second finger, "And coming in second place, Chrysalis."  
  
Hobbes closed his eyes and let out a deep sigh, "Chrysalis.of course."  
  
"Why would Chrysalis want Ed?" Claire asked.  
  
"Simple.when Lewis thought I was Ed, he was asking me all kinds of questions about Chrysalis. What they were, how did they re-engineer their genetic DNA, you know that kind of science stuff. Lewis must have felt threatened by them and needed to find anything he could on them. Lewis might have thought that with Ed's work here he might be helping Chrysalis with their world domination plan."  
  
"Now, Chrysalis might want to know what Ed knows about dominants." Sloan said. She suddenly became ashamed of herself for not speaking up for Ed. Sloan glared at Walter, "You made me believe that Ed was betraying us. We should have talked to him first." Before long, everyone was involved in a shouting match except for Darien and Tom.  
  
Darien shuffled his feet as he stared at his shoes. He didn't join in, he only listened. He also knew that Hobbes had accused Ed also and felt the jealousy that raged inside of Hobbes. It concerned him, he didn't want Hobbes to go and do something foolish like with Viv. Darien furrowed his brow and lightly bit down on his lower lip as he watched Tom's expression.  
  
Tom wasn't one to change his usual brooding look, but this time he half smiled at Darien. He raised a brow to Darien. This was Darien's signal that he needed to regain control of this situation.  
  
Darien took notice and acted. "Hey!" Darien shouted. Everyone stopped and looked at Darien, "Thank you.Can we stay focused here? We need to find Ed. Hobbes and I will check the Chrysalis angle and you guys can check the Lewis angle." Darien saw this as a great opportunity to speak with Hobbes about his emotional volcano that was about to erupt.  
  
****  
  
Ed stirred and opened his eyes only to close them quickly when bright light greeted him. He moaned and rolled over trying to escape the light. "Why can't they dim the lights when someone wakes up from a drug induced sleep?" Ed said in an exasperated tone.  
  
"Glad to see you're awake, Dr. Tate."  
  
Ed heard the voice. Achingly, he rolled over again and saw a figure standing in front of him. "Aw come on, what now? Wait, you know who I am?" Ed was definitely surprised that someone called him Tate instead of Fawkes.  
  
"Of course I do, doctor."  
  
Ed covered his eyes with his hands and opened them. He wanted to get a good look at whoever was talking him. His vision was blurred, "I can't see very well. Who are you?"  
  
"Don't worry, that's one of the side effects, it'll pass. As to who I am." the figure bent down next to Ed, "I'm Jared Stark."  
  
"Stark? Wait, I know that name.Chrysalis!?!" Ed let out a moan, "What do you want with me?" Ed wanted to curl up in a ball and escape this madness. His world was bad enough dealing with the dominants, but having a share in Darien's world was getting under his skin. The only good thing was that he met Claire.  
  
"We'll discuss that later, but for right now, I think you may want a change of clothing. To show that I have no desire to treat you poorly, I'll even let you shower." Stark motioned for one of the guards to hand Ed his clothes. Ed took them in his hands and tried to shake off the blurred vision. Stark rose to his feet and looked down at the tousled man on the cot. "You bare a remarkable resemblance to."  
  
Ed raised his hand and waved it, "Yeah.yeah.I know.I look like Darien Fawkes. Trust me.we're not related. I did DNA tests and we talked about our families. There's no connection. Just chalk it up to being freaks of nature."  
  
Stark turned and faced the two guards, "When he's ready, bring him."  
  
Ed blinked at Stark, "What's going to happen to me?"  
  
Stark smiled at Ed, "Don't worry yourself Dr. Tate. Like I said, I have no intentions of harming you. I just want some information about the new species and what happened with Fawkes."  
  
"You really think I'll tell you?" Ed sat up with difficulty. 'I can't believe this is happening to me,' he thought to himself.  
  
"No, but I'm sure you can be persuaded to tell me everything I need to know." Stark held the door open and walked out.  
  
Ed was helped off the bed and taken out of the room to the showers. As they walked down the hall, Ed asked one of the guards, "Uhmm.you two don't plan on guarding me in the showers do you, I mean, come on, don't I deserve some privacy?" Ed waited for the response, but the guards only gave him a fixed glare. Ed looked at the two faces and noticed no emotion in them, "Ah.I guess that means 'no'. Great!" Ed was pushed down the hall, "Just remind me not to bend over if I drop the soap."  
  
****  
  
Lewis sat at his desk as he worked on his computer. He felt a presence, stopped his typing and looked up, a broad smile was on his face. "Karl Hunter, welcome, I'm glad you're on my team."  
  
"I'm glad you asked me join you, now what is it that you want me to do?" The tall black dominant asked. Karl was trained in the military. He was a strong dominant, skilled in martial arts, weapons, interrogation, and physically fit in both mind and body. His demeanor was always one of eloquence but highly confident, loyal and ready to fight for the dominant cause in anyway possible.  
  
Lewis liked all those in the dominants that worked for him. After what happened in Alaska, it wasn't very difficult for Lewis to persuade Karl to join him. "My plan is ready to be set in motion but I have a slight problem that I didn't foresee and I need your help."  
  
Karl stood with his hands behind his back like he was a soldier standing 'at ease'. "And what is that.problem?" Karl asked as he stared Lewis straight in his eyes.  
  
"A secret human organization called Chrysalis has taken a human that I want." Lewis leaned back in his chair.  
  
"Is a human part of your plan?"  
  
"Yes, an important one, he is an essential part of my plan and I would highly appreciate your help in finding him." Lewis said.  
  
"And what would this human's name be?" Karl asked.  
  
"You know him, Karl.it is Dr. Ed Tate." Lewis smiled and raised both brows to the sudden change in Karl's demeanor. "I see you remember this human?"  
  
Karl breathed heavily through his nostrils. It had been four long years since Alaska, since Dr. Ian Copeland died from the flu because of that human and his so called vaccine. Karl has never forgotten that name and vowed vengeance for Dr. Copeland's death. He turned his hateful gaze back to Lewis, "I will deliver him personally to you." Karl's voice was filled with hatred.  
  
Lewis stood up and walked over to Karl, "Karl, let's get one thing straight, I don't want him dead, at least not yet." Lewis patted Karl on his back, "Just find out where he is and we'll go from there. Don't worry; you'll have your revenge. When I'm done with Dr. Tate.you can have him to do what ever you want." Lewis watched the malevolent smile appear on Karl's face and he smiled back in like manner, "Good, I'm glad we have an agreement."  
  
****  
  
Ed was pushed into the room, "Hey! Easy there." Ed was pushed towards the computer.  
  
"Have a seat, Dr. Tate." Stark motioned to the chair.  
  
"What do you want me to do?" Ed sat down reluctantly. Stark turned on the monitor and in front of Ed's eyes he saw the DNA Differential Sequencing Program, it's was Darien's test result. Ed turned his startled gaze towards Stark, "How did you get this?"  
  
"Let me get one thing straight here, Dr. Tate. I ask the questions and you answer them," Stark stood next to Ed, "Obviously by your expression, you didn't expect me to have this? Tell me, Dr. Tate.what is Fawkes? Is he one of the new species now? Don't lie to me."  
  
Ed stared at the monitor and then at Connor who stood with an ominous smile on his face. Ed got a terrible feeling about what would happen to him if he lied. Connor looked as if he willed Ed to be uncooperative. Besides, it wouldn't do any good to lie; the truth was right in front of him. Reluctantly, Ed answered Stark, "Yes, he is."  
  
Stark motioned for one of the guards to get him a chair. He smiled at Ed, "See.now that wasn't so difficult." The guard brought Stark a chair and he sat down, "Now, you and I are going to spend some quality time together, Dr. Tate, and you are going to tell me everything you know about the Dominants." Stark grinned at Ed.  
  
Ed rolled away form the computer, "No.I don't think so."  
  
Stark's eyelids twitched at Ed's sudden display of bravery, "Dr. Tate, I already know about the gene therapy you've worked on for the dominants. I also know that you tried to find a way to reinforce the gland to change Fawkes back to human status." Stark got up and stood behind Ed, "You're serum doesn't work. I have scientists here that can make it work and we can come up with a way to inoculate the dominants." He walked around the chair to face Ed again, "I can help you."  
  
"Help me? I know all about your great master plan." Ed glared at Stark, "So how did you do it? Which base pair did you extract from the DNA? Or does the aging gene start to die when you reach puberty.oh wait.let -7.yes of course.humans have it too. Animals that are missing this gene never develop into adults." Ed paused, "But if that gene was removed you'd never go beyond puberty and wouldn't be able to reproduce." Ed snapped his fingers, "Caenorhabditis elegans.the tiny worm shares 40% of its genes with humans. Daf-2.we have a gene similar to it, when that gene isn't working, the worm lives longer. You're burning less fuel in your bodies.so of course you would live longer. The daf-2 gene mops up the highly reactive molecules, you know, the free radicals." Ed stared at Stark, "You found a way to manipulate the brain and control the aging genes.all 61 of them." Ed studied Stark's face; he was on to something by the way Stark's expression turned from amusement to worry. Ed continued to see what else would happen, "You could have also just manipulated chromosome number 4, which contains the anti-aging genes."  
  
Stark's straightened his body and he moved his shoulders back, "I see that my research on you was correct, Dr. Tate. You are intelligent and quick. I don't know how we missed you." Stark observed the bewildered appearance on the young scientist's face. He merely smiled back and continued, "But of course that technology is only for us." Stark was sure that Sharon would be pleased with this latest find.  
  
Dr. Tate would be an excellent addition to the collection of scientists they already have. After all, Allianora had given Fawkes Kate Easton back and this seemed like a good trade off. Granted, Dr. Tate was not a quantum physics scientist, but his knowledge of dominants and his work in immunology proved to be valuable. Stark also saw in him his vast knowledge in the field of human genetics, another plus in his eyes.  
  
"Yeah, well my intelligence doesn't seem to keep me out of trouble as of late," Ed said. His tone marked a certain amount of nervousness. He looked down at his hands, "You want to help me with the gene therapy only so that you can take over the world? Is it me or is there something wrong with this picture?" Ed said sarcastically.  
  
Stark stared at Ed intently, "You will get me what I want, Dr. Tate. You have no choice." Stark placed the keyboard in front of Ed, "I can make your life a living hell and I have a lifetime to do it in."  
  
Connor stood behind Ed to keep him from rolling away from the computer again.  
  
Ed warily looked at Stark and then at Connor. He let out a deep sigh, stared at the monitor again and weighed his options.  
  
"You really have no choice here, Dr. Tate. If I don't get what I want from you, I'll just have to get it from someone else. You wouldn't want that on your conscious would you?"  
  
Ed thought of Sloan and Claire. "You wouldn't?" He said in trepidation.  
  
"Are you willing to take that risk?"  
  
"I guess this would be the part where Darien would say.'Oh crap'."  
  
TBC. 


	5. Chapter 5

This part is rated R for a minor adult situation.  
  
Chapter 5  
  
Ed grudgingly agreed. He thought of the drug used on him from Lewis and going through something like that again was not on his agenda. But perhaps he could use this to his advantage. Ed thought that he could send a cryptic message to Walter. He didn't know where he was but he knew who was holding him. He was counting on Darien and Hobbes. They knew more about Chrysalis and this man, Stark. At least they would know where to start looking for him.  
  
"What is it that you want me to do? You seem to have everything already." Ed queried.  
  
"Like I said, my scientists would help with your gene therapy and would find a way to distribute it to the new species. In return, I need for you to hack into Walter Attwood's computer." Stark looked intently at Ed.  
  
"Walter.why?"  
  
"Dr. Tate, how much do you really know about your boss?" Stark asked.  
  
Ed knew that Walter worked for the government but other than that nothing, he remained silent. Stark smiled, "I see." Stark moved closer to Ed, "What would you say if I told you that Walter has hidden agendas for your work?"  
  
"I'd say you're lying and you would say anything to get me to help you," Ed said contemptibly. "You haven't given me any reason to trust you. I'm nothing but a bargaining chip for Darien. It's him you really want."  
  
"Dr. Tate," Stark laughed, "I don't bargain with anybody. True, I do want Darien Fawkes and I will use you to get him.but I'm not about to give you up. I have plans for you and the gland." Stark got up from the chair, "You're not going anywhere and if I don't see Attwood's files." he motioned towards Connor.  
  
Connor pulled out a stun gun and touched Ed's shoulder. Ed's back arched as 625,000 volts went through his body. He fell to the floor. Every muscle in his body felt like they were paralyzed. He could barely move. Stunned, he looked up at both Stark and Connor, "Wha's that for?"  
  
"Just a little foretaste of what will happen if you disappoint me," Stark knelt down on the floor and looked into Ed's fearful eyes, "Do I have your full cooperation, Dr. Tate? Or should you and Connor become buddies?"  
  
"You 'ave my coop'ration," Ed didn't hesitate. The pain in his body was still very fresh.  
  
"I knew you would see it my way." Stark stood up and motioned for Connor to help Ed back in the chair.  
  
Ed was seated back in the chair and the keyboard pulled out so he can start to work. Stark motioned for two guards to stay in the room at all times, "Keep an eye on him." Stark then turned to Ed, "I'll be back to check up on you and I had better see some progress." Stark walked out with Connor right behind him.  
  
Ed glanced quickly at the two guards and then turned his attention to the computer, "Whatever happened to not being mistreated?" Ed complained to himself. He rolled his shoulder to get the kink out, "Damn, that hurt."  
  
****  
  
Darien watched Hobbes get in the driver seat. Hobbes pulled out his bottle and dried swallowed two pills. Darien shot Hobbes a concerned look, "Hey, man, you okay?"  
  
"Yeah, I'm fine, couldn't be better," Hobbes lied. He was angry at Ed, at Claire, at everyone. He was full of jealousy.  
  
"I know you too well, my friend. You're not fine and I don't have to read your mind to know that. Talk to me." Darien said.  
  
Hobbes looked at Darien, "Guess there's no fooling ya is there?"  
  
"Nope, I've seen this before, like with Viv. This has to do with Claire and Ed doesn't it?"  
  
"And what if it does?" Hobbes said in a harsh tone that spoke volumes. His hands gripped the wheel like he had his hands around someone's neck, like Ed's neck.  
  
"Look, man, they're two adults. Claire made her choice; you have this 'no fishing off the company pier' thing. Did you think she was going to wait around for you to start fishing? You've got to let her go and let her find out if this is right or not." Darien said. He didn't like telling Hobbes that, but he had to snap Hobbes back into thinking clearly before he did something that he would regret.  
  
"Fawkes, you don't even know. The only reason why she slept with the nerd bean pole is because Mr. Ed reminds her of Kevin!" Hobbes stared at Darien for a moment.  
  
"Kevin? What does Kevin have to do with this?" Darien glared at Hobbes, "Don't lie to me, man, I'll know it." Darien said sternly.  
  
"Kevin and Claire dated; they knew each other, okay! You happy?" Hobbes quickly realized what he said and stared at Darien, an apologetic looked engraved on his face. "Fawkes..." Hobbes said but he was too late. Darien's face turned red and his nostrils flared with the heavy breathing.  
  
"Why didn't you tell me.I thought we were partners, friends.?" Darien ran his hand through his hair. "Anything happen while Kevin's memory RNA was in me?"  
  
"I don't know." Hobbes never had a chance to finish. Darien got out of the van and ran back upstairs to confront Claire.  
  
"Oh crap." Hobbes said, "I'm sorry, Claire." The secret was out and now Claire was going to be even more upset with him now.  
Darien burst through the door and found Claire putting Ed's surfboard away, "Darien? I thought you left."  
  
Darien interrupted Claire, "Tell me about you and Kevin! And don't leave anything out."  
  
Claire stood there in total shock. "You know?" She said in a voice that sounded horrified, "Bobby told you?"  
  
"In not so many words. He's down there pissed off, he thinks you slept with Ed cause he reminds you of Kevin. Is that true?" Darien approached Claire.  
  
"Oh bum," Claire sounded quilty. She paused and thought for a moment. How could she tell Darien about her and Kevin? "Look, Darien, Kevin and I did know each other. We dated when we were both at Cal Tech. But after that we lost contact with each other, we never saw each other again."  
  
"Until his memory RNA.what happened Claire?" Darien asked. He watched as Claire closed her eyes and Darien not only saw the kiss from Claire's memory, but felt it on his lips. He touched his lips lightly and sat down, "Oh crap.Claire, you could have told me."  
  
"And told you what, Darien? That I loved Kevin? That I kissed him.you!" Claire sat down next to him.  
  
"You could have told me that you knew him at least. Do you know how weird this is? First, you kiss Kevin when his memory was in me, which means essentially you kissed me too and now you slept with a guy that could be my twin." Darien looked at Claire, his brow creased, "Doesn't any of this freak you out in any way?" Darien sighed, "You've got to be honest with yourself about Ed." Darien got up, "Don't hurt him too." He turned and left Ed's apartment.  
  
Claire sat there on the couch taking in Darien's words. It wasn't about Kevin or did Hobbes tap into something that she didn't know was there? "Oh bloody hell!"  
  
****  
  
Darien and Hobbes arrived in San Diego two hours later. Most of the ride was spent in silence. Darien was not going to push the subject on Hobbes. If Hobbes wanted to talk, he would listen.  
  
Hobbes parked down the street from the Chrysalis building. The two men sat in the back of the van. Darien put on his ear piece, he looked at Hobbes with worry about the mental condition he was in. "You gonna be okay, Hobbes? Cause, I'm going in there and I need you man, you know what I'm saying? "  
  
"Yeah, I got your back." Hobbes put his hand to low five his partner.  
  
"Glad to hear it, bro." Darien slapped Hobbes' hand and quicksilvered.  
  
"Go get 'em, I-Man." Hobbes said as the door opened then closed. He sat for a moment contemplating his thoughts about Ed and Claire. Darien was right. Claire needs to find out if Ed is the right one for her and he shouldn't interfere with that. All that mattered to him was for Claire to be happy. It was time for him to put his feelings aside and help find Ed before it was too late.  
Darien quietly walked through the halls of the main Chrysalis building. He remembered where Stark's office was. When he reached the double doors he used his dominant senses to make sure Stark was alone or at least the office was empty. Stark wasn't there but a woman was, a young beautiful woman in fact. "Interesting," Darien said under his breath. He knocked on the door.  
  
"Who is it?"  
  
Darien didn't answer, he knocked again instead. "Come on, answer the door.oh that's right.my bad, I forgot." He took a deep breath and focused on the young woman behind the door. "Bleh.bleh.come to me my darling," Darien said in his best Bella Legosi impersonation, he even used the hand motions to draw the young woman towards him.  
  
"Fawkes, knock it off," Hobbes irritated voice came over the ear piece.  
  
"Hey, you know, I think I can really get used to this. Sure would make my spy days easier. And the bonus prize.I won't get my butt kicked as much." Darien whispered.  
  
Hobbes rolled his eyes, "Great, now you'll be an even bigger show off."  
  
Darien watched the door slowly opened and the young woman stepped aside. He walked right in and closed the door. Darien let the control down and the young woman shook her head.  
  
"Que.Que faisais-je?" She started to walk back towards her desk when something caught her eye. She stared at her couch and saw an indent in the cushion. The young woman frantically looked around, "Qu'est-ce que c'est ?"  
  
"I am the ghost of Christmas Past or Present or even Future but he didn't talk so you can have your pick."  
  
The young woman jumped and ran to pick up her phone.  
  
"Uhmm.I wouldn't do that."  
  
"Who.what are you?" She asked nervously. She looked around again, a smile suddenly came across her face. She squared her shoulders, "I know who you are. I have heard of you, oui. You are the man with the gland." Sharon glared at the couch, "Show yourself."  
  
"Your wish is my command oh great one," A burst of silvery flakes appeared around Darien. He was sitting back with his legs crossed and his arms outstretched on top of the back rest.  
  
Sharon gasped at what she saw, "Vous êtes magnificent!."  
  
"Yeah, I get that a lot. I'm Darien Fawkes and you are?"  
  
"My name is Sharon. Vous parlez français, monsieur Fawkes?" She crossed her arms in front of her.  
  
"Un peu, je l'ai pris dans le Lycée. Je suis le troisième Canadien de français de génération. C'est une chose de famille." Darien said. (A little, I took it in High School. I'm third generation French Canadian. It's a family thing.)  
  
"Fawkes, since when do you speak French?" Hobbes asked. He knew that Fawkes was third generation French Canadian but he didn't know the kid could speak the language. "Dominant mind is like a freakin' human computer," Hobbes said out loud.  
  
"Ahh, oui, famille. But Fawkes is not French." Sharon was truly interested in this man.  
  
"Not that spelling, it was originally F-A-U-X then my grandfather changed it to F-A-W-K-E-S." Darien smiled at her. She was stunning with her long black hair hanging over her shoulders. "So, where is Stark?" He studied her mind and read the information he needed. Darien tilted his head back and smiled, "Oh I get it, Stark got canned. Now that's funny.what'd he do, buy stock in Enron?" Darien chuckled.  
  
"Stark was right about one thing, you are.comment dites-vous ?...witty," Sharon said. She kept her eye on the man that sat on her couch. 'La honte, il n'est pas avec la Chrysalide,' she thought to herself. (Shame, he's not with Chrysalis.)  
  
Darien smiled. The thought hit him and it triggered something inside of him. He looked around the room, "So, guess I couldn't have been that lucky and Stark was sent to Siberia, huh?"  
  
"No, he's still around and very angry with you."  
  
"Well, that's not news to me, sister." Darien patted the couch for her to sit down next to him. He felt her hesitation, "Don't worry, I won't bite." Darien grinned like the Cheshire cat. There was a new instinct he was feeling in his body, it was almost primal, a need that was welling up inside of him and it was hard to put a lid on it.  
  
Sharon felt herself pulled towards Darien. She saw him get up and slowly walk over to her. That's what it seemed like anyway, slow motion. Darien moved on her like a cat pouncing on a mouse. She felt his strong arms wrap around her. Her heart pounded behind her sternum. Those chocolate brown eyes pierced her soul with a lustful hunger. She lifted her hands to touch his biceps. She purred when she felt the solid muscle underneath his shirt. Neither of them breathed normally. Darien lowered his head to her neck to sniff her scent. His warm breath hit her skin that caused it to respond, her skin pimpled up like a plucked bird. She arched her back and pushed herself closer to his body heat.  
  
Darien moaned and started to kiss her neck. He worked his way up to her ear and gave the ear lope with the studded earring a little nip. Sharon nearly fell and he held her up. He rubbed his cheek against hers to leave his scent on her before he moved to her mouth.  
  
Hobbes sat in the van and wondered what had happened. He heard them talk and now he heard moans, "Moans? Do I hear moans?.Ah Fawkes, what the hell are you doing up there?" Hobbes yelled into the earpiece. Actually he knew, Darien had lost control of his dominant instincts once again. "Tom didn't cover this in class," he said as he threw down the earpiece. "Okay, Hobbes.you gotta get the kid out of there. But how do you stop a hormone induced rampaging bull?"  
  
Hobbes pulled out his cell phone and called Tom. "The guy better have some answers," Hobbes hissed as he looked up Tom's number.  
  
"Daniels."  
  
"Tom, its Hobbes. I have a hypothetical question for you. What do I do if Fawkes gets.you know.?" Hobbes wasn't quite sure how to ask.  
  
"I know what?"  
  
"Horny."  
  
"Horny?" Tom didn't really understand the term.  
  
"Yeah, you know, frisky, get the hots for say.a French chick."  
  
Tom glanced at Sloan who smiled. She whispered in his ear. He raised a brow at Sloan's explanation. "Well, where's Darien now?"  
  
"He's in the Chrysalis building. He was talking to some French chick and then they started.uhmm.moaning." Hobbes covered the phone to listen to more moans on the other end of the earpiece, "Bobby Hobbes doesn't need to deal with this right now." He said away from the phone, "What do I do, bust in on him or what?"  
  
"No, don't bust in on him, he'll see you as a threat." Tom informed Hobbes. Sloan was listening intently. This was something that they never really talked about.  
  
"A threat? A threat to what?"  
  
"His territory," Tom looked at Sloan. She had a puzzled look on her face. "Dominant males are territorial when it comes to women. If you rush him while he's." Tom paused to look at Sloan who had her arms crossed in front of her.  
  
"While he's what, Tom?" Hobbes yelled.  
  
Tom cleared his throat, "Mating.uhmm.while he's mating. He must have sensed the attraction."  
  
"Sense the attraction? Oh, you mean like pheromones?"  
  
"Uhmm.yes that would be it. Dominants have a higher awareness to chemical changes in the body, especially pheromones."  
  
Sloan thought for a moment. She and Ed had discussed this one time before and she tried to remember what Ed had said about female pheromones. She thought back to what started the conversation; Ed had wanted to know why if Tom was supposed to kill her why the sudden change in him.  
  
Sloan took the phone from Tom, "Hobbes, the Vemeronasal Organ in our noses is the sensory apparatus that detects pheromones. Now pheromones are consciously undetectable to the human nose, but men can subconsciously pick up women human pheromones right away and become instantly sexually attracted. The vemeronasal organ stimulates the hypothalamus in the center of the brain which is the center of our emotions, like attraction, sexual desire and lust. Darien probably unconsciously picked up on the pheromone and it sent a signal to the hypothalamus and chances are he has no idea why he's doing whatever it is he's doing."  
  
"So this chick saw him, got the hots for him and released her pheromones in the air and his nose picked up on it?" Hobbes shook his head, this wasn't his day.  
  
"Essentially, yes. But Hobbes, there's something else.she might be at the fertile part of her reproductive cycle. That's when women release another pheromone called copulin. He may have picked up on her readiness to propagate. If he does.uhmmm.mate with her and gets her pregnant, she will have a dominant child. I know it's dangerous like Tom said, but you have to find a way to distract him."  
  
"I don't friggin' believe this. It's Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom here." Hobbes rolled his eyes, "So what you're saying is I need an elephant gun to take him down so I can cool him off with a hose?" Hobbes took a deep breath, "Thanks Sloan, maybe next time, Tom can cover this in class." He put his phone down and put the earpiece back on and turned off the tape. No sense in recording this part. The best thing he could do was to let the kid ride out his emotions and hope that he would come to his senses before it was too late.  
  
"Where does Stark have Dr. Ed Tate?" Darien whispered in Sharon's ear.  
  
"Qui est cela ?" Sharon answered in between gasps.  
  
Darien's hand moved up her bare thigh and he reached the hem of her skirt, "In English, bien-aimé."  
  
"I don't know who you are talking about," Sharon's hand went to Darien's and she encouraged him to continue.  
  
While Hobbes had talked to Tom, Darien had pushed Sharon over to the desk. She had been half sitting half standing. Darien pulled up her skirt and had her sit down. She leaned back and grabbed him by his shirt. He moved between her legs and placed kisses down the center of her chest. She moaned as her hips arched upward. Darien smiled and looked into her eyes.  
  
Hobbes took the earpiece off, he couldn't take it anymore. He sat and waited for his partner to return. "Fawkes, I hope you know what you're doing."  
  
"Ed Tate.he looks.just like.me," Darien broke his sentence up to place soft kisses on Sharon's now exposed flesh.  
  
Sharon wrapped her legs around Darien's waist and held him closer to her body. Her fingers joyfully played with the thick main of hair on top of Darien's head, "No, monsieur Fawkes, I.ohhh.do not know.ahhh.who you speak of."  
  
Darien moved down a little further south. His hand reached under her skirt to her laced panties. Sharon moaned and arched upward to give him better access. "Darien.you are fabulous." She felt his fingers messaging her at the source of her heat. Sharon's mind spiraled into ecstasy. 'Now I understand why Allianora loved you,' she thought to herself.  
  
Darien stopped when the thought pounded him like a jackhammer. He looked up at her, 'Allianora?' the name clear in his mind, "What the h*ll am I doing?" Darien backed away and looked at the half naked woman, "What am I doing?" he repeated to himself.  
  
Sharon observed Darien, "Qu'est-ce qui ne va pas mon amour ?" She slowly got off the desk. (What is wrong my love?)  
  
"I can't do this, not with you.you're Chrysalis." Darien quicksilvered and ran from the room.  
  
Sharon smiled; she buttoned her shirt and sat down behind the desk. She could still smell Darien on her and she took in a deep breath, "Je vous aurai, ce n'est pas si facile pour un homme de résister à la tentation." Sharon leaned back in the chair and day dreamed of her next encounter with the invisible man. (I will have you; it is not so easy for a man to resist temptation.)  
  
Darien opened the door to the van and sat on the seat. He dropped the quicksilver. Darien's body shook and his skin was pale.  
  
Hobbes didn't see his state of distress right away. "Done with your quickie there, Romeo?"  
  
"Hobbes, what happened to me in there?" Darien turned to face Hobbes. His eyes were wide with fear.  
  
"Whoa.what happened.I'd say that her pheromones sent you into hyper drive?" Hobbes snickered.  
  
"Huh? What? Her pheromones?" Darien asked surprised.  
  
"Yeah, pheromones.like the time when Bigfoot wanted to mate with you. Apparently, my friend, you can pick up on female pheromones."  
  
Darien looked disgusted and gestured to Hobbes to start the van, "Let's just get out of here."  
  
"Back to Pasadena?" Hobbes wasn't really looking forward to the two hour drive.  
  
Darien shook his head in response, "No, we'll stay here. Stark has Ed, I know it. Sharon didn't know who he was." Darien thought back to what he almost did and he rubbed his face with his hands, "Aughh.I can't believe what I almost did."  
  
"So, you didn't nookie?" Hobbes asked with the hand gesture included.  
  
Darien had a unpleasant look on his face at the gesture, "No, I didn't." his words trailed off. Darien stared out the window until Hobbes asked another question.  
  
"And since when did you speak French? It would have come in handy when we first met in Mexico with those Canadian Nationals, if they spoke French of course."  
  
Darien looked bewildered, "Hobbes, I don't know, I mean I did take it in school, but I haven't spoken it since. It was just a way for me to meet chicks. I don't know where all that came from.it just came out."  
  
"Well, you're freakin' me out with all this stuff. Did you get any information out of her?" Hobbes quickly changed the subject.  
  
"She really doesn't know if Stark has Ed. But I did find out that she's high up in the chain of command for Chrysalis." Darien said.  
  
"Hey, that's good." Hobbes reacted with enthusiasm.  
  
"How is that good?" Darien looked at Hobbes agitated.  
  
"Well, you can seduce her and get some info from her," Hobbes pointed to his head, "You know, read her mind."  
  
"Hobbes, are you telling me to use my body like some male prostitute?" Now Darien was really disgusted at the thought.  
  
"That's what corruption, temptation and seduction are all about my friend," Hobbes said.  
  
"Oh this is just great," Darien huffed. He leaned his head back and stared at the van's roof, "I need to talk to Tom about this."  
  
"I called him, he said not to interrupt while you were.you know.mating. He said that you would see it as a threat to your territory."  
  
Darien shot Hobbes a questionable look, "My what? Territory? Mating? This is gettin' outta hand."  
  
Hobbes took Darien back to his apartment. Darien decided to treat himself to a shower, not that he needed it because of his close encounter with Sharon. Her thinking of Allianora took the wind out of his sail anyway. He needed the shower to clear his mind.  
  
Hobbes was going to call the official but thought that wouldn't be such a good idea. He fixed a snack for both of them and waited for Darien to finish in the shower.  
  
Darien didn't eat right away; he wanted to speak with Tom to find out what happened to him earlier and to see if he had any luck with the Lewis angle. They talked for a while and Tom told Darien everything about the sexual practices of male dominants.  
  
"Dominants don't have the capacity to love; we find it a weak human emotion as you already know. Mating is part of the fight for our survival. Dominant women can give birth to four babies at a time." Tom said over the phone.  
  
"Sounds like a litter.makes sense, the more you have the better chances of survival." Darien added.  
  
"That's right. Procreation for dominants is vital for our existence. A male dominant who mates with a human female will still father a dominant child. Sloan and Ed discovered that one some time ago." Tom paused, "Darien, you have to learn to control your instinct to procreate."  
  
"Instinct? Man, don't you people have sex other than to increase the population?" Darien scoffed. He hung up the phone and looked at Hobbes. "I feel like a special for Animal Planet. He said that it's an instinct to procreate.to build up the species. Crap, if the Fat Man catches wind of this he'll turn me into a eunuch."  
  
"I'll be sure not to tell him," Hobbes answered with a shutter. "Anything about Ed?" Hobbes wasn't sure how he felt about Ed. But still, they needed to find him.  
  
"Nah, Tom doesn't think that Lewis has him, but he's still checking."  
  
****  
  
Stark walked in his office. He paused when he saw a dark haired woman sitting in his chair, a hint of surprise was in his voice, "Sharon? What are you doing here?"  
  
"Bonjour, Jared. I came to offer you a second chance."  
  
Stark smiled. He walked over towards his desk, "Well, I'm pleased to hear that. I have another report for you." He handed her a stack of papers.  
  
Sharon looked at them, "Oiu, I have already read it. Tell me, have you found anything more on these.Dominants?"  
  
"As a matter of fact I was going to make an addendum to my report. I have working for us right now one of the lead scientists who has been working on a way to eradicate the new species." Stark was smug in his demeanor.  
  
Sharon took note of it and smiled at him, "I would like to meet this scientist, take me to him." Sharon stood up and retrieved her coat. She followed Stark out the door and to the waiting limo. "You have him off site?" she asked.  
  
"Yes, I prefer to take extra precaution in this situation." Stark held the door open for Sharon and she sat down on the leather seat. He felt that Tate would be his ticket back into the graces of his boss and Sector G would remain in his control.  
  
****  
  
Ed had sent a message to Walter's email. He hoped that his odd S.O.S. would be understood by someone. Now he searched through the Chrysalis files. Ed eyed the two guards and saw that they were occupied in a game of chess. Ironic, Ed found himself in a different kind of chess game. He just hoped he could check mate his opponent before they realize what he was doing.  
  
"Okay, Stark, you got into my computer, now lets see if I can hack into yours," Ed punched in a few keys and waited. The only reward he got was the default sound from the computer. The two guards took a moment from their game and looked at Ed suspiciously. He matched their stare and shrugged his shoulders, "Access Denied," Ed said to them and watched as they went back to their game. "Morons," he said under his breath.  
  
"Okay, let see.if you where important files where would you be.it was easier hacking into the phone company." Ed paused and chuckled, "Great, now I'm talking to myself." He checked his watch, Stark would be returning soon and he needed to work fast.  
  
Ed typed in a sequence and a default sound echoed in the room. Ed smiled at the two guards, "Sorry." Ed leaned back in his chair, "Chrysalis.come on Ed think.they are a genetically enhanced group of people." Ed smiled, "Science terms.okay.let's try this," Ed typed in the word *chrysaliskris´elis*. He waited. Default sound announced his failed attempt. "Okay...hmmm.how about this one," he typed in the word * pupapyoo´pe*. Another irritating sound greeted Ed.  
  
"Okay, it's not the resting state or the cocoon itself.maybe." Ed typed in the word, *lepidoptera*. It worked. "Third times the charm.now let's see what we got here."  
  
**** Darien sat down to eat. "I'm so hungry I could eat a." he paused in mid sentence.  
  
Hobbes bit into his sandwhich, "Horse., I know that's what." Hobbes noticed the trance like stare on Darien's face, "Fawkes? Are you."  
  
"Shhhh.Hobbes.we need to get out of here," Darien's voice sounded urgent. He leapt off the bar stool and grabbed his coat. "Come on, Hobbes!" He seized Hobbes by his arm and hauled him off the bar stool.  
  
"Geezz.Fawkes," Hobbes said with a slight irritation in his voice. "Your grip is like a vice!" Hobbes rubbed his arm.  
  
Darien looked at the smaller man, "Sorry, partner." Darien put up his shield to cover them both. Hobbes felt Darien's hand on his shoulder and then the coolness of the quicksilver. Hobbes vision went from color to monochrome in an instant, "Fawkes."  
  
"Hobbes, quiet.someone's coming and it's not FTD." Darien opened the door and led them out of his apartment. They followed the wall towards the stairs. Darien stopped, "We can't go this way...lets try the elevator..." They ran to the elevator and pushed the button. It didn't light up. Darien pushed it again. Still nothing happened, not even the sound of the old elevator movements, "Oh crap, they got the thing turned off or something." Darien sensed their electrical impulses as they came up the stairs, "They're getting closer."  
  
"You got a fire escape or something here?" Hobbes asked quietly.  
  
"Yeah, this way." Darien nearly dragged Hobbes down the hall by his arm. They reached the window and climbed outside. There was no quiet way of going down the metal steps. Darien saw some more of the men as they came around the corner. "Crap, come on!" Darien leaped off the stairs and waited for Hobbes, "Hurry, man, jump will ya!"  
  
Hobbes looked down, he knew he had very little time left before the quicksilver flaked off, so he jumped and landed on his two feet. He felt the gruff tug at his shirt again and he was pulled down the alley by Darien. Hobbes heard the footsteps and looked behind him, "Are they human?"  
  
"Yeah," Darien answered. They stopped at the corner and Darien peeked around the corner. Darien slowly moved out onto the sidewalk. Hobbes nearly ran into him when Darien made a sudden stop.  
  
"Whoa.watch it.I nearly rammed into you!" Hobbes protested.  
  
Darien was looking around, surveying his surroundings. He shifted his body to shield Hobbes. "Whadja doin', Fawkes?" Hobbes asked. His answer came quickly.  
  
Darien's body vibrated, his free hand went to his head, "Uhhhh." Darien hunched over.  
  
"Fawkes!" Hobbes yelled.  
  
Darien straightened back up and grabbed Hobbes again, "Come on." He became confused and the quicksilver flaked away. Darien seemed to be off balance as he ran. He knocked over a garbage can and stumbled sideways as he nearly tripped over his own feet.  
  
"Fawkes?" Hobbes became concerned. Darien acted strange as they ran down another alley. Hobbes had to pull him back when he almost ran into the side of the building. "What's wrong with you?" He looked into Darien's eyes and what he saw made him take a step back, "Fawkes?"  
  
Darien's eyes weren't focused. They looked distant, like he was comatose. Darien swayed like a drunk. "Wha.ja.huh." Darien tried to speak to Hobbes but couldn't form anything coherent. He knew what he wanted to say, but he couldn't express it.  
  
"Fawkes, you're not making any sense," Hobbes said. He grabbed Darien's shoulders, "What's wrong?"  
  
Darien shook his head from side to side. His legs nearly gave out and he grabbed onto Hobbes for support.  
  
*POP*  
  
Hobbes turned his head to the sound and saw a canister hit the ground. "Oh crap," Hobbes said as a strange gas leaked from the can.  
  
This time Hobbes hunched over, grabbing Darien. "Get outta 'ere," Hobbes said to Darien before he collapsed on the ground.  
  
Darien erratically bent down to pick up Hobbes. No way was he going to leave him there. He fought against his scrambled mind and desperately tried to focus. Darien hoisted the smaller man over his shoulder and wobbled precariously as he tried to straighten to his full height. He tried to peer through the smoke to see where he was going. His senses were confusing him. Darien was successful in only turning around in a circle and even that motion was erratic. The gas was had started to take its toll. But Darien pressed on, the instinct to survive was too great for him to lie down and give up.  
  
*POP*  
  
Anther canister landed at Darien's feet. The gas emitted from the can went straight up and into his lungs. Darien walked unsteadily a few more feet before his legs went numb. He fell to his knees and then sideways. Hobbes lay on top of him. Darien could hear the footsteps get closer. He turned his head with what little control he had left and gazed up at one of the men, "Guess you win."  
  
Hobbes was roughly rolled off of Darien and left in the alley. A dark van quickly drove down the alley and the door opened. Darien was lifted off the ground and placed inside.  
  
A dark limo waited by the side of the road. The window came down when one of the men approached it. "Successful test?" the lady asked.  
  
"Yes, ma'am, the frequency was just enough to confuse him; the gas took care of the rest. We left the other one there. He won't be harmed, just wake up with a killer headache."  
  
"Very good," the lady rolled up her window and headed in the opposite direction from the vans. She turned to her assistant who sat next to her, "It appears that the sensory disrupter works. Remind me to thank Walter later. The information he gathered from Lynch and what I got from Tom proved to be valuable in the development of this new weapon against the dominants." As she spoke, she didn't notice another car pull out and follow the vans.  
  
TBC.. 


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6  
  
Ed came across a name he recognized. "Arnaud?" He searched the files. His curiosity peeked when he saw the file for surgical notes. Ed looked at the two guards who were still busy with their chess game. He pulled up the file and quickly scanned it. "They took Arnaud's gland out?" He whispered to himself. He copied the file and was ready to send it to his email when the door burst open.  
  
Two other guards rushed in along with a smaller guy who wore glasses. Ed looked up in surprise. The smaller man pointed at Ed, "Stop him!!" The two guards along with the chess playing guards ran at Ed.  
  
"Shit!!!" Ed yelled out. He hit the enter button just as the smaller man pulled the plug on the computer. Ed was jerked off the chair and held by the two largest guards. The smaller man walked up to Ed and punched him the stomach. The guards held him up for another punch.  
  
A few moments later, Stark and Sharon walked in just as the smaller man laid a third punch to Ed's midsection. "What is going on here?" Stark yelled out.  
  
The smaller man turned and was surprised to see Stark standing in the door way, not at all pleased. "Dr. Tate hacked into our files, sir."  
  
Sharon heard the name, 'Dr. Tate.Ed Tate.' she thought as a plan was formulating in her mind. 'This was the man that Darien was looking for,' she smiled. She walked over towards the hunched over man to get a good look at him.  
  
Stark glared at the two guards that were supposed to be watching Ed, "You two were supposed to be watching him." Stark turned to smaller man, "What files did he see?"  
  
"He saw the files on the surgical procedure that was done on Arnaud de Theil."  
  
Stark's face turned red with anger, he huffed as he turned to face Ed. The two guards still held Ed up. He coughed raggedly and his midsection felt like it was fire from the blows. Sharon placed her hand under his chin and lifted his head.  
  
Ed noticed the surprise look on her face and he knew why. 'She knows Darien,' he thought to himself as he fought against the hands that held him. He wanted to lie down and curl up in a ball.  
  
"You're a foolish man, Dr. Tate," Stark said. "You were supposed to hack into Walter Attwood's computer."  
  
Ed looked up, "How did you get my notes on the gene therapy?" Ed coughed out his words.  
  
"I have my ways," Stark smugly said. "What else did you see and don't lie.I'll find out."  
  
"If you got my notes, why did you need me to hack into Walter's computer?" Ed asked as he fought back the nausea.  
  
"I'm sure you know by now that Walter is not who he appears to be. He has information stored on his computer that we couldn't get into. I was really hoping that you would help me out. Now answer my question. What else did you see?" Stark stepped closer towards Ed.  
  
Ed lowered his head, "Nothing else."  
  
Stark turned to the smaller man, "Find out for sure and see if he sent anything out. I don't want to take any chances." He looked at the guards holding Ed, "Take him to his room. I'll deal with him later."  
  
Ed was jerked around a little as they left the room. He had made a fool of them and the guards were not happy about it.  
  
Sharon looked at Stark, "You were right, Jared. He is intelligent. He was able to break our security systems." She cocked her head sideways, "Or did you plan on it."  
  
Stark smiled, "I planned on it. The files on Arnaud's gland removal are false entries. Those files are on disk and hidden away. I was hoping he would send a message to Darien Fawkes." Stark motioned for Sharon to follow him out of the room.  
  
"How did you know that he would try to get into our files?" Sharon was amused at Stark's ploy.  
  
"He's a scientist, Sharon. The desire to know would be too great for him to ignore." Stark smiled. "Now, all I have to do is set the trap for Fawkes." They walked to his office and shut the door behind them.  
  
****  
  
Hobbes woke up with a killer headache. He moaned as he tried to sit up, "Oh man, what was that stuff." realization hit and he looked around for Darien. "Fawkes!" There was no answer and no sign of him either. He reached into his jacket and pulled out his cell phone.  
  
"Keepie.it's Hobbes."  
  
"Bobby! Did you find out anything about Ed?" Claire's voice sounded frantic.  
  
Hobbes curled his lip at the mention of the name, "No, we didn't but we have another problem.Fawkes is gone.not AWOL type of gone.gone gone.as in someone took him." Hobbes' head was pounding. He waited as Claire handed the phone to Tom. "Yeah, Tom.he said they were human. They were dressed like military personnel; they had gas masks and thermals. They did something to Fawkes, he was acting all weird like he was off kilter or something and then they gassed us. When I woke up he was gone." Hobbes waited for Tom to ask his next question. "I know for sure it wasn't Chrysalis, that's not their MO. It was more like SWRB.SWRB? Secret Weapons Research something, I can't think my head hurts too much. But I doubt it was them since they kind of blew up last year.Yeah, they could have regrouped, but it doesn't feel right." Hobbes spoke to Tom a little bit longer and then hung up. He decided to go back to Fawkes' apartment and crash there until his headache went away. He was no good to the kid in this condition.  
  
**** Tom walked into Walter's office and told him what had happened. Walter sighed, "I think I might know who is behind this." He picked up his phone and speed dialed a number.  
  
"Your boss.she took Darien?" Sloan asked.  
  
"It wouldn't surprise me." Tom added sourly. He didn't trust that human female especially after what she had done to him.  
  
Walter waited until his boss picked up, "Where is Agent Fawkes?"  
  
"What makes you think I took him?" The lady asked.  
  
"Well, first off, I didn't say you took him, you did. All I did was ask where he was, which means you know he's missing and therefore I assume that you had something to do with it."  
  
"Very good, Walter. I'll have to give you kudos on that one."  
  
"You do realize that Agent Fawkes has in his possession government property?" Walter said.  
  
"Yes, and like you, I have orders to follow. Nothing you can do about this one, Walter. You owe me."  
  
"He doesn't." Walter heard the click and hung up the phone, "She hung up and she has him."  
  
Sloan and Tom looked at each other. Sloan showed obvious signs of fear. It had taken months for Tom to heal both physically and mentally from the exams and tests Walter's boss ordered on him. Now Sloan was afraid for Darien.  
  
"Tom, we have to find him."  
  
"I know." Tom placed his hands on her shoulders and squeezed reassuringly. The memories of his time in her so called care came back like a tidal wave. Being locked up in the cage was only the beginning of his ordeal. The information they gathered about dominants from him would be used against his people and he knew it.  
  
"Stay here, Sloan," Tom said to her in a stern tone.  
  
"No, Tom.I want to go with you,"  
  
Tom sensed the emotion and it was deeper than he would like it. "No, Sloan, it's too dangerous for you. I won't be able to protect you. Besides, you have to be here when Ed is found."  
  
Sloan shook her head and watched Tom leave the lab. She turned her gaze to Walter, "What do we do now?"  
  
"We keep looking for Ed, let Tom and Hobbes handle finding Darien."  
  
"So who is looking for Ed now?" Sloan asked.  
  
"Ray and I will take of that." Walter said.  
  
Suspiciously, Sloan glared at Walter, "Uh-huh.like how you traced us in Mexico?"  
  
Walter half smiled at Sloan's remark, "I will use any means possible to find my people."  
  
"Great, does that include Darien, I'm sure Tom could use a satellite's help."  
  
Walter sighed, "I can't do that Sloan and you know it. I had to bargain with the devil to get Tom back and the devil has come for payment."  
  
"You know what she did to Tom, God only knows what she'll do to Darien," Sloan blurted out in anger.  
  
"I know exactly what she's capable of, Sloan. If I interfere in anyway she'll close us down again and will have no problems taking Tom again." Walter got up from his desk, "I know this is hard, but Darien belongs to the agency, he's out of my reach. I'm not even his handler."  
  
"What? Handler? He's not some kind of animal to keep in a cage.he's a human being." Sloan paused after her last remark. Her eyes had started to turn red and were ready to tear, "Then call the Official since he's Darien's *handler*." Sloan stormed out of Walter's office.  
  
"I'm afraid that even he won't have a say in this matter. It's up to Tom and Hobbes." Walter said to himself as he watched Sloan walk out of the lab.  
  
****  
  
Karl walked into Lewis' office. "What news do you have for me?" Lewis asked.  
  
"Depends on which news you want, the one on Dr. Tate or the one on Agent Fawkes?"  
  
Lewis stopped typing and looked at Karl, "Agent Fawkes?" He asked in surprise. "Tell me."  
  
"I had one of my men follow Agent Fawkes in San Diego. I had hoped that he would lead me to Dr. Tate." Karl paused and then asked, "Do you know a human female that rides in a limo?"  
  
Lewis nearly threw his computer to the floor at the mention of the human female, "Don't tell me she has them both?"  
  
"I don't think she has Dr. Tate, but she does have Agent Fawkes." Karl waited for Lewis to gather his thoughts. He was hoping to have the chance to go in 'rescue' the new dominant. Karl had heard about him and wanted to see for himself this new breed. Karl waited patiently like the soldier he was.  
  
"Are your men still following Agent Fawkes?" Lewis asked.  
  
"Yes, they followed two dark vans to a facility outside the city limits. Give me the word and I'll go get him."  
  
"You have it. I don't care about human casualties.bring me Agent Fawkes alive and unharmed." Lewis looked sternly at Karl.  
  
Karl nodded and strode out of the office.  
  
****  
  
There were so many voices or so Darien thought. As the drugs wore off, he became aware of voices around him, not talking to him but about him. He tried desperately to turn away from the bright light but he couldn't move his head. Or his hands, or his feet, 'Great, why do I always end up on someone's lab table?' he asked himself as he struggled to wake up.  
  
Darien became aware that what he thought was voices were actually sounds. Metal. Metal hitting metal. Instruments. That's what he heard with the voices, metal instruments being placed on another metal surface. He quickly did a mental check of his body to make sure they didn't decide to cut him open. Nope. He seemed to be all intact. The only thing that hurt were the metal bands around his wrists and ankles that held him down. 'Oh please tell me I'm not naked?' To his relief, he had pants on. But no shirt, socks or shoes.  
  
A light shown in Darien's eye when someone lifted his eyelid, he squirmed to get away from the sudden bright intrusion.  
  
"He's waking up," the voice said.  
  
"No, it's too soon, give me another sedative." Another voice said. This one was female.  
  
Darien tried to protest but felt the cotton swap on his arm and then the needle sliding in to deliver its contents. "No.wh." Before Darien could even finish, he slipped back into unconsciousness.  
  
"That was close, we have to be careful and monitor him better than that. This one is different from Tom Daniels. Lets get these first tests done with, and then the real fun can begin."  
  
****  
  
Ed sat on his bed while he waited for the inevitable return of Connor and the stun gun from hell. His only hope was that he could last long enough until help arrived, if Walter received his message. He's not even sure if he was successful on sending the information he stole about Arnaud's gland removal procedure. It would help Claire to find a way to remove it without putting Darien's life on the line. If she was successful then he would be able to convert Darien's DNA back to the 1.1% human differential.  
  
Ed heard the click of the lock turning. He sat up straight on the bed, his stomach bottom out and he started to sweat. The door slowly opened. Ed found it hard to swallow his throat was so dry. He really didn't want to appear to be afraid but with what happened earlier he knew he was about to experience some serious pain.  
  
"Le bon Après-midi, Dr. Tate," The woman's voice said.  
  
Ed looked up and saw the woman he met earlier as she stood in front of him, "Huh?" Ed was surprised, he expected to see Connor.  
  
"Me pardoner," Sharon smiled, "Forgive me, good afternoon, Dr. Tate."  
  
"Depends on which side of that door you're on," Ed said in a relief voice at his stay of punishment, at least for the moment.  
  
"Ah, oui, this can not be pleasant for you." Sharon looked down at Ed and raised her brows at him.  
  
Ed rolled his eyes, "Forgive me if I seem rude, but I'm not one to be kind to people who kidnap, shock, punch their guests in the stomach and then lock them up." Ed relented, "Have a seat." Suspiciously, Ed watched as the woman sat down next to him, "So, how do you know Darien?"  
  
Sharon tried to hide her surprised look, "Why do you ask?"  
  
"Cause of the way you looked at me, I saw the recognition on your face. That sort of thing is hard to miss, especially since I've been mistaken for Darien lately."  
  
"You have to admit," Sharon put her hand on Ed's thigh. Ed looked at it cautiously. Sharon continued, "You do bare a striking resemblance that would confuse anyone. Are you two related?"  
  
Ed smiled and a soft chuckle escaped his mouth, "Not fair, you didn't really answer my question. How do you know Darien?"  
  
"Everyone in Chrysalis knows about Darien Fawkes. He's made a name for himself in our organization." Sharon's hand moved up a little bit.  
  
Ed put his hand on top of hers to stop it from going any further, "I don't think so, Miss.?"  
  
"Sharon."  
  
"Sharon.I don't." Ed stopped when Sharon lifted his hand up. Her hands cupped his and she studied it carefully.  
  
"You have soft hands, Dr. Tate. No calluses, nothing to show heavy manual labor and long fingers.hmmm.what things you can do with long fingers."  
  
Ed pulled his hand away from Sharon and stood up, "Look, Sharon, you're attractive, but you can't seduce me into playing along with Stark's game. You know I sent a message and I know you know." Ed paused to think about what he just said. He shook his head and continued, "So, obviously I had no intentions on hacking into Walter's computer. I just wanted to get to that computer. I know what's going to happen to me, but you know what? I got the feeling that you people are not about to let me go anyway no matter what I do. So, just have that big guy come in here and beat the crap out of me," Ed sighed, "Might as well get it over with." Ed stared at her as he stood in the corner of the room with his arms folded.  
  
Sharon stood up and walked over towards Ed. She put her hands on his arms and stared into his deep brown eyes. "Jared will listen to me, he has too. I don't want to see you harmed, just do what he asks," her hands went up his arms to his neck and then to his tanned face. Her hands traveled through his hair and to the back of his neck, "Vous êtes juste aussi beau que Darien Fawkes."  
  
"I'm sorry, I'm a little rusty on my French. You said something about Darien." Ed felt himself being pulled down closer to Sharon.  
  
Sharon seductively whispered, "Kiss me, Dr. Tate."  
  
"You French are real forward aren't you?" Ed grabbed her arms, "What makes you think I'm going to kiss the enemy?"  
  
"We don't have to be enemies," Sharon ran a finger along his bottom lip.  
  
Ed leaned down as if he were going to kiss her but he went past her mouth to her ear, "We are." He broke the embrace and walked away leaving Sharon by herself in the corner.  
  
Sharon turned around and glared at Ed, "I could have made your stay with us easier."  
  
"Some how, I don't believe you," Ed said looking around the bare cell.  
  
Sharon walked past him and then stopped when she reached the door. She turned around and with a tear falling down her cheek, "Goodbye, Dr. Tate." She walked out and the door locked behind her.  
  
Ed slowly closed his eyes, "I'm in deep crap." He flopped down on the bed and put his head in his hands, "All I wanted was to be a scientist, not some freakin' secret agent man."  
  
Sharon met Stark in the hallway. He noticed the tear, "I'd say it went as expected."  
  
"Yes, it did. He loves that woman, get her and bring her in. I'm curious to see if she is just as devoted as he is." Sharon smiled and walked with Stark back to his office.  
  
****  
  
Darien felt cold all around him, it enveloped him like a blanket. He tried to open his eyes, but failed. They felt like they were sealed shut, but it was his eyelids that did not respond. He was on his back and whatever he was lying on hurt. Darien attempted to roll over and that only made matters worse. His head pounded and he fought back the nausea that overwhelmed him.  
  
Darien did manage to roll over at the last moment to avoid vomiting all over himself. His body broke out in a sweat and he trembled. He was able to get to his knees and leaned over. Finally, his eyes opened and he looked at his new surroundings. He panted as he gazed into the darkness around him. Something didn't feel right, something inside of him. He had a feeling like he was immobile, no, more like confined.  
  
A bright light came on suddenly, piercing the darkness and shined right in Darien's eyes. "Auhh!" He scurried on his legs to try to escape the light but he hit the back of something. Bars. He knew the familiar feel of bars. He shielded his eyes to try and get a good look at his current situation. Darien was in a cage.  
  
The door opened but Darien couldn't see who came in. He huddled in the far corner of the cage. Why was he so scared, what was it about a cage. He certainly had spent his fair share of time behind bars either in jail or in prison, why was this different.  
  
Darien watched as a form moved from out of the light. He noticed the hose in the man's hands. The water was turned on and the man cleaned the floor. The water made its way down a drain in the middle of the cage. Darien saw the man look at him with disgust and felt the same emotion radiate from him. Fearfully, Darien stared back and wondered what the man would do next.  
  
The man stood as he waited for his next orders. When they came, he smiled. Darien read his mind and tried to escape the blast from the hose, but he had no where to go. Darien put his hands up to protect his face from the water that discharged out of the fire hose. The man laughed maliciously at Darien's plight.  
  
After what seemed like agonizing minutes, the water stopped. Darien still only wore his pants and now he was completely soaked. Resting on his knees, he bent forward touching the floor with his forehead. His body ached from the force of the water.  
  
The man looked at the pathetic sight before him, "I see nothing but a dirty animal. Look at you, locked up like some animal at a zoo. Your kind won't last." The man spit at Darien.  
  
Darien looked up with dread drawn on his face, "I was human."  
  
"Yeah, *was* being the keyword. You're not one of us; you're one of them now. The only good dominant is a caged dominant." He leaned forward, "In case you haven't noticed.uhmm.your kind don't like to be confined like this, drives you all nuts." The man laughed spitefully as he hit the bars with the end of the hose. He left the room and the light was turned down low. It gave the room a moonlit atmosphere.  
  
Darien struggled to get to his feet. He looked around trying to find the one-way mirror. There had to be one, there always was one in rooms like these. The room was too dark near the walls, so he just shouted out into the darkness, "I'm not like them! I'm human!" Darien yelled it out again as he clutched the bars. "Get in here!" Darien tried to shake the cage, but it was bolted to the floor and very firm. Darien eased down to the floor slowly. He repeated in a distraught tone, "I'm human."  
  
Darien sat on his knees again with his head resting on the bars. "Lab rat in a cage," Darien lifted his head when he noticed a change in the room's temperature. It had gotten colder. He looked at his wet pants and ran his hand through his wet hair, "It's an experiment." Darien looked up, "Oh God, just kill me now."  
  
Darien curled into a ball to try to escape the temperature that seemed to get colder as time went on. Then it occurred to him what Claire had said about the quicksilver. The coating that surrounds his body to protect him from the freezing surface levels also holds in his body heat. He debated on whether or not he should give a sneak peak, but figured that they would know sooner or later, if they didn't know by now. Darien kicked the gland in gear and was immediately covered in a silver liquid. He wasn't sure how long he could stay awake, but maybe it would be long enough for him to dry off.  
  
In the observation room there was a chorus of shocked reactions. The lady stood there and smiled at what appeared to be an empty cage. "That ladies and gentlemen is your tax dollars at work. Agent Fawkes was the government's ultimate secret weapon until just a week ago." She turned to face the doctors, "Now, he's ours. The President wants to know how the dominants conversion serum affects humans," she looked at the cage, "here's your chance. He is not to be harmed.well, killed anyway. He has 17 million dollars worth of scientific technology in his head; try not to harm his brain." She turned and walked out of the room.  
  
Darien's body shuddered; he was able to read the minds of the people that were close by for a brief moment. They were making plans for him and it wasn't to take him on a picnic. The words of the man echoed in his mind, 'You're not human.' Darien repeated to himself, "I'm not human." He looked at the bars, "I'm not human." He looked at his hand that was a golden orange color, "What am I?"  
  
The events of the past few weeks stampeded through Darien's mind. Ed doing the DNA tests, Tom helping him to control his aggressive instincts, the way he was able to manipulate minds. In his mind he saw the man with the hose again, "See, you're not human. Your DNA is 1.6 different from humans.you're what Attwood calls Homo Dominant.not Homo Sapien."  
  
Darien looked at the man, "1.6?" Darien shook it from his mind, "No.!" He dropped the quicksilver, got up and he grasped the bars, "NO!!! You hear me? I was born a human!" Darien shook the bars again, the feeling of confinement was getting to him, "Let me outta here!" He let go of the bars and went to the center of the cage. Darien twirled around as he held his head with hands, "Let me out!" His voice sounded desperate, almost a like a request.  
  
One of the doctors in the observation room took note of Darien's behavior, "Isn't that curious. Humans are held in confinement like in prisons and you don't see this kind of reaction. Now I would expect this from a human in solitary confinement." He looked at his notes, "Did we get this response from Tom Daniels?"  
  
"Yes, we did. Soon, he'll just sit in the center staring off. This is a normal response, almost like claustrophobic tendencies." Another doctor remarked.  
  
"And they're supposed to be superior." All the doctors started to laugh.  
  
The sound of the laughter reverberated back to Darien. He sank to the floor, "Receptacle turned spectacle." Darien curled up in a ball and waited for the next experiment. The temperature had leveled off, but he was still cold. It didn't matter now. This was probably the easiest test he would under go. He hoped that Hobbes and Tom would find him. He had to believe that. It was the only thing that would keep him sane. The belief that his partner would not bail on him had to be enough to see him through.  
  
One of the doctors held up a scan of Darien's brain to view box on the wall, "It takes a lot of energy to keep a brain like this functioning."  
  
"Have you ever seen a fat dominant?" Another doctor asked.  
  
"No, guess I haven't. But I see what you're getting at. Metabolism equals energy. A car needs gas to keep running among other things, but essentially it all boils down to energy." The doctor studied the curled up figure in the cage, "I'd say lets limit his energy intake and see what happens."  
  
"What do you mean cut down on his meals?"  
  
"Yes, let's go to.say.once a day, but not a full meal, half a meal." The doctor jotted down his orders and handed it to the guard, "See that my orders are carried out."  
  
The guard took the note and looked at it, "Anything specific he shouldn't eat, doctor?"  
  
One of the doctors smiled, "Give him whatever contains the least carbohydrates." He looked around as the other doctors' agreed, "That should speed things up a bit.for us anyway."  
  
"We should monitor his sodium and potassium levels. If they become imbalanced it could be dangerous."  
  
The doctors all shook their heads in agreement and wrote notes in their charts. One doctor stared at Darien quizzically. He noticed that Darien had been staring at them the whole time. "Did he hear us?" He said out loud.  
  
"Excuse me, Dr. Davidson, did you say something?"  
  
"Look at him." Dr. Davidson motioned for the others to look at Darien. "The look on his face, I would swear that he heard us."  
  
"Or read our minds."  
  
"They can do that?"  
  
"We've only begun to understand what they're capable of. Some may have different abilities than others, but it wouldn't surprise me if he does have some form of ESP."  
  
"We did have the report of a young dominant that was able to scramble Dr. Parker's electrical impulses. I have a feeling he can too."  
  
All the doctors studied Darien's expression as it changed from misery to fear. "He can read our minds," one of the doctors said in alarm.  
  
TBC.. 


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7  
  
Ed leaned up against the wall in his cell with his head resting on his forearm. He waited.  
  
Darien lay curled up in a ball in the center of his cage. He waited.  
  
Claire sat at Ed's desk as she stared out the window. She waited.  
  
Hobbes walked into the lab only to see Claire who sat in Ed's office. He took a deep breath and promised himself that he would not upset her. He tapped on the door frame, "Hey, Keepie."  
  
Startled, Claire turned around quickly, "Oh, Bobby!" She ran to him and put her arms around him, "Are you okay?" She broke the hug to give Hobbes a quick physical exam with her hands.  
  
"Yeah, I'm fine, just a headache," Hobbes grabbed her hands and held them, "I promise, Bobby Hobbes doesn't go down injured that easily."  
  
Claire managed a light chuckle, "No, I guess not."  
  
"Any word yet on the missing Doublemint twins?"  
  
Claire shook her head, "Bobby, you always know how to make me laugh in tough times." She looked into his eyes, "Walter found out that his boss was the one who took Darien."  
  
Hobbes became angry, "You mean the broad in the fancy car?"  
  
"Yes," Claire watched as Hobbes paced back and forth. "Bobby?" Claire said in a concerned voice.  
  
"I have to call the Fat Man on this, maybe he could do something."  
  
****  
  
'Why do I hate this? I've been in smaller cells then this,' Darien thought to himself. The room was still dimly lit and the scientists were no longer in the observation room. Darien sensed loneliness deep inside him coupled with the feeling of confinement. Now he knew how a caged animal felt.  
  
Darien looked at the cell door and mentally slapped himself, 'I don't friggin' believe this.' He looked around and saw a security camera, 'Hope you don't have thermals.' The quicksilver coated his body. He rose off the floor and went to the cell door. Darien studied the cell door, there was a key hole on the outside. Using his sense of touch he found what he was looking for. Darien allowed the quicksilver to flow off his finger and into to the key hole. The locking mechanism inside froze immediately.  
  
'I hope this works,' Darien thought to himself as his pushed hard on the cell door. With a crack the locking mechanism broke and the door swung open. He walked outside of the cage and ran for the door. He used his dominant senses to see if anyone was around. There was no one. 'I've got a bad feeling about this,' he thought to himself as the door opened too easily.  
  
Darien stepped outside in the empty hallway. He looked around suspiciously, 'This has trap written all over it.' Cautiously he took a step and then another, 'Okay, time to out fox 'em.'  
  
As he slowly made his way down the hall he passed several doors. He noticed several security cameras and an opened gate at the end of the hall. 'Like a prison,' Darien thought to himself, 'Except for the open gate.' He stopped at a door; curiosity got the best of him. It was unlocked and the door opened to reveal a poorly lit room. It was illuminated enough for him to see that steel cages the same size as the one he was in filled the room.  
  
Darien stood there, staring. 'What is this place?' he thought to himself as the door slowly closed. 'A prison.this is a prison.they couldn't?' Darien thought to what Ed was working on, the serum to turn to dominants' DNA to human DNA.  
  
Darien decided to open up other doors and what he found shocked him.more cages. 'They can't do this,' Darien walked through the gate. He saw what resembled a guard's station in a prison. There was a large window which Darien presumed was unbreakable. Lining the desk were monitors and one of them showed the room that Darien had been in. He looked around and quickly bolted out of the control room.  
  
Darien came to a room at the end of the hall. He was about to push the door opened when he heard an unfamiliar voice in his head, 'Watch this, its really going to hurt.' Darien stopped and looked around, "Aw crap, they can see me." Out of the corner of his eye he saw something move. Darien looked up and saw what resembled a camera move in his direction. 'What the.'  
  
Darien became dizzy. He looked down the hall and didn't see anybody. Darien leaned up against the wall and used it as support. He walked as fast as he could down the hall in another direction. The dizziness left him and he felt surer of himself. Darien ran down the hall as fast as he could. He had no idea where he was going. The halls were numbered, but that didn't really help him. He looked on the walls for any evacuation notices but there were none.  
  
Darien turned another corner and was hit with another dizzy spell, this one a little more severe than the first. He looked up and the hall was spinning, the quicksilver flaked off. "What is happening to me?" Darien closed his eyes and tried to fight off the effects to get his senses back. He staggered along the wall as his senses slowly came back to him. He nearly took off again when he lost muscle control in his legs and fell to the floor. He was on his hands and knees, panting. He looked up and saw a camera pointed right him.  
  
Darien struggled to get to his feet and was able to take a few steps. He watched as the camera followed him. He heard another voice say, "Try Level Five and let's see what happens."  
  
"I'm still a freakin' lab rat." Darien tried to run again, but this time he became disorientated and spun around a few times. "Hobbes!" He called out. Darien's arm reached out to touch the wall, "What are you doing to me?"  
  
"Next level."  
  
"No." Darien stumbled down the hall sideways before falling.  
  
"Level Seven."  
  
Darien tried to get up. All his muscles became paralyzed and he fell to the floor. He heard a door open. Footsteps came closer to him. Darien was barely able to move, "Why?"  
  
"You already know. We needed to test our security." The man looked up and spoke into the air, "Level Eight."  
  
Darien's head spun and hurt worse than any hangover he'd ever experienced. The scientist watched Darien as he slid into unconsciousness. He looked up towards the mini version of the new weapon. "It worked looks like he thought it was a camera. Well done."  
  
Another scientist came out, "We were far enough away so he couldn't sense us, but obviously he could still read our minds, very interesting. Let's hope we never have to use it. I'd say this detention center is ready to go and when Dr. Tate perfects his serum .we can get to work."  
  
****  
  
Karl stood by as his men got inside the military vehicles. They were all dressed as US soldiers. Lewis came out to hand some papers to Karl.  
  
"Here," Lewis held out the papers.  
  
Karl took them and looked at them, "They look official enough."  
  
"They are official," Lewis smiled. Karl was giving him a questionable look, "It's best you don't know how I do things. After all, how do you think Dr. Copeland got all of his equipment? You better get moving, my inside person says that Agent Fawkes is doing poorly." Lewis started to walk away.  
  
"How am I supposed to know who this person is? So that they don't get killed," Karl questioned.  
  
Lewis turned to face Karl again, "I really don't care, this.*person*.has done their job. I don't need him anymore, kill them all. Just bring me Fawkes alive."  
  
Karl smiled with hunger when he heard the orders, "No problem." He turned and walked to the lead vehicle. He got inside and the military convoy drove off.  
  
****  
  
Tom, Ray and Hobbes set off to meet with a contact about a possible location where Darien is being held.  
  
Claire and Sloan sat on the stools in the lab. They tried to keep working on Ed's research but neither of them could concentrate.  
  
"I can't do this right now," Claire took of the safety glasses and nearly slammed them on the counter.  
  
"I know what you mean, but I think they would want us to continue." Sloan said sympathetically. She was worried about Ed and Darien. She saw that Claire was an emotional wreck. "Why don't you go and get some rest. I'll stay and wait for word and as soon as I hear, I'll call you."  
  
Claire half smiled, "Thanks, Sloan."  
  
"If it means anything, Ed is pretty tough, he may not show it, but.he'll be okay." Sloan tried to sound reassuring. She thought to when he escaped the dominants in Alaska and spent the night in the Tundra. How he fought off the Spanish Flu and survived. She had to believe that he would find a way again to beat the odds.  
  
"Yeah, Sloan, when he has to be tough I've seen it," Claire started to walk out when she stopped to look at Sloan, "Darien is too you know.tough. I've seen him get out of more situations then you can count on your fingers. He took care of himself for years, not by all legal activities, but still he did it." Claire smiled at Sloan.  
  
"Thanks, Claire." Sloan watched as Claire left the lab and she went back to peering inside the microscope.  
  
Claire never made it to her car.  
  
****  
  
Hobbes eyed the black man known as Mark Ward. With news that Walter's boss was behind Darien's disappearance, he had very little reason to trust anybody, let alone a dominant.  
  
"You still don't trust me do you, Agent Hobbes?" Mark said straight faced.  
  
"I've been in this business long enough, my friend. Bobby Hobbes trusts no one but his partner." Hobbes said as he deliberately pulled back his coat to show his weapon.  
  
"You'll have no need to use that on me," Mark said.  
  
"We'll see." Hobbes shot back. He stepped closer to Mark and turned his head slightly to glare at the tall man.  
  
"You will." Mark countered. He took a step closer. Tom looked on worried.  
  
"I hope so, for your sake." Hobbes concluded. He was practically chest to chest with Mark. Even though the dominant was nearly the same height as Darien, Hobbes didn't back down.  
  
Tom looked wearily at the two men and then at Ray. Mark smiled at Hobbes, showing that he respected the shorter man's behavior. He was impressed that a human would be so brave to stand up to him like that. With humans this courageous, co-existence is the better solution.  
  
Ray rolled his eyes after the exchange of words and glances were done. Hobbes and Mark reminded him of two young male lions fighting over territory. He was just glad it ended when both men silently agreed to back down. To Ray, it also show how determined Hobbes is to find Darien. If only all partners had each other's back like that. Ray would have enjoyed having a partner who was so loyal like Hobbes.  
  
Tom glanced at Mark, "You have any word on where we can find Darien?"  
  
Mark, still glancing at Hobbes answered Tom, "Yes, I do." He turned his gaze to Tom, "Here's the address and directions, but you have to hurry. My informant tells me that Lewis has sent Karl Hunter to rescue Darien. Karl is working for Lewis now."  
  
Tom raised a brow at the mention of Karl's name. "Thanks, Mark."  
  
"Who's this Karl person?" Hobbes asked.  
  
"Only one of the most highly trained dominants in the military," Ray remarked.  
  
"He was in Alaska working for Dr. Copeland when Ed was kidnapped. He was in charge of the guards at the time. He was arrested by the human military, but he was able to escape with a few others. If he's working with Lewis now, this makes finding Darien even more of an imperative." Tom said.  
  
"Then why are we standing around talking. Let's go." Hobbes said.  
  
****  
  
The cell door opened and Ed tensed and panicky, he looked up. He had expected to see Connor and he wasn't sure if Stark's sudden appearance was going to be any better. "Well, are you here to get my punishment over with, cause this wait is worse?" Ed asked in a bitter tone.  
  
"You scientists hate to wait don't you? Too persistent, must have the answers right away..." Stark pulled up a chair and sat down in front of Ed. "Well I for one am very patient."  
  
"So, is this some sort of a torture social visit?" Ed asked cautiously.  
  
"Well, I do know what files you sent to your computer, I knew the scientist in you couldn't resist." Stark smiled.  
  
"I've heard that one before," Ed sighed. That's nearly the same thing that Copeland said to him about the Spanish Flu. "Look, lets not beat around the bush.what the hell do you want?"  
  
"Direct approach, I like that."  
  
"I'm a scientist; it's the only way I know how to be." Ed said rancorously.  
  
"Maybe you are related to Darien Fawkes after all." Stark sneered, Ed raised a brow and smiled back. Stark stood up, "I'm going to give you one last chance and this time I don't think you'll be so quick to play the hero."  
  
"I wouldn't be so sure of that." Ed said.  
  
"I'm curious to know more about the dominants DNA. Do both parents have to be dominant or does it really matter?"  
  
Ed spied Stark suspiciously, "Why do you ask?" Ed paused, "You're not thinking.no.you wouldn't?"  
  
"Why wouldn't I, Dr. Tate? If you are going to defeat an enemy you have to think like them, and eventually become them."  
  
"Look, you better make damn sure you know what you're getting yourself into. Dominants are aggressive by nature, it's an instinct. You can rework with the aging process, but I don't think you can alter instinct," replied Ed.  
  
"I'm sure my scientists can figure out a way to curb their appetite." Stark smirked.  
  
Ed stared deeply into Stark, "You know the answer already don't you? That's why Lewis was so interested in you. He knew what you were planning and wanted to stop you. That's why you're such a threat to him?"  
  
"And now I have the geneticist who knows everything there is to know about dominant DNA." Stark smiled as he motioned towards Ed.  
  
"This is why you hacked into the computers at the lab to get all my research."  
  
"I needed to see how clever you were and you didn't disappoint me at all." Stark said to Ed with a twinkle in eye.  
  
Ed thought for a moment, "You'll need DNA samples, you could use blood or hair but that's not what you have mind is it? You're not going to use a female dominant to supply you with eggs because they only release four a month. A man like you would want fast results. You need to build your new breed pretty fast.you're going to use dominant spermatozoa. You can fertilize thousands of eggs at one time."  
  
Stark smiled, "Very close, Dr. Tate. We plan on only extracting the dominant gene and encoding it into our own. This is where you come in. Your work in genetics and immunology will come in handy for us. We won't be altering a large amount of our sperm, but we will have a few test subjects."  
  
"I'm not going to help you create a genetically altered dominant." Ed stopped, alarm spread across his face, "Darien.you plan on using Darien?"  
  
"Of course, who else would I use? His abilities are far greater than any dominant we've seen." Stark stood up, "He has two things I want, his DNA and quicksilver and I know how to extract both."  
  
Ed stood up, "Wait, you've tested dominants, for how long?"  
  
"Let's just say my organization has known about them for as long as you have. But your work has exceeded our own. You have been a great help to us, Dr. Tate."  
  
Ed looked away a little infuriated, "So, why now? Why kidnap me now and force me to work for you?"  
  
"We are very patient, Dr. Tate, and we have a lifetime to wait. We wanted to see what would happen, to see what we were up against." Stark said.  
  
"I don't believe you. What you want is an all out war so we could wipe each other out and leave the planet to you. Your organization would just sit back and watch the entertainment. And when it was over, you'd have the place to yourselves without ever having to lift a finger." Ed said.  
  
Stark glared at Ed.  
  
Ed shook his head, "Uh-huh, men like you, like Lewis, you always have a hidden agenda. What'd you do? Got demoted and now you're trying to show, what was that woman's name? Sharon, you're trying to prove yourself again to Sharon by creating a *master race*" Ed smiled, "Excuse me, I mean *master species*. You're treading on thin ice here, Stark. You have no clue as to what you're getting yourself into by tampering with boundaries of nature and science."  
  
"Like you and your gene therapy? Isn't that what you're doing by altering dominant DNA? You're tampering with the natural course of evolution, Dr. Tate." Stark answered back.  
  
Ed looked down, "I'm trying to prevent an extinction of our species."  
  
"Are you? You need to rethink that, doctor. You will be causing an extinction of at least one species and doesn't that go against all you're taught? Doesn't the extinction of a species disrupt the balance of nature?"  
  
Ed glared at Stark, "I guess then we're in the same boat. You've gone to great lengths to try and wipe out humanity. So don't lecture me about ethics."  
  
Stark nodded, "Fair enough."  
  
Ed ran his hand through his long hair, "You do realize if you remove the gland you'll kill Darien."  
  
Stark smiled and walked towards the door. He opened it and looked back at Ed, "I don't plan on removing the gland, just the quicksilver."  
  
"You sick son of a."  
  
"Careful doctor, that language is unbecoming a person of your stature."  
  
"Yeah, well maybe, but you are one deluded person," Ed sneered.  
  
Stark motioned for one of the guards, "Take him to room 5." Stark looked at Ed, "No tricks this time."  
  
Ed was escorted out of his cell. 'Stark has seriously lost his mind,' he thought to himself as he walked in between the two guards.  
  
****  
  
Darien woke up with a major headache. He moaned in pain.  
  
"I can give you something for that," a voice said.  
  
Darien didn't bother to look up; it hurt to bad to move, "But."  
  
"You know the routine don't you?"  
  
"I'm a professional lab rat, I know all the routines." Darien hissed.  
  
"We have to know how long the effects last."  
  
Darien winced, "Yeah, yeah. What you use on me.a neuralizer or something?"  
  
The scientist laughed, "Something like that. But I need for you do something for me?"  
  
"I think I've done enough.your little weapon works." Darien sneered through his pain. His head felt like it was about to explode.  
  
"This is easy, quicksilver your hand."  
  
"Want to make sure you didn't damage the government's 17 million dollar baby." Darien held up his hand and it disappeared. He tried to read the man's mind but couldn't, 'It must be the headache. Wonder how long that will last?' Darien stopped the quicksilver and his hand reappeared.  
  
"That's good, any pain when you did that?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Can you read my mind?"  
  
"Ah, what makes you think I'd tell you?"  
  
The scientist smiled, "You can't can you? The pain is too intense for you to focus. That's something unexpected."  
  
"Isn't that what these little tests are for?" Darien looked at the scientist, "What are you going to do here?"  
  
"You're smart, Agent Fawkes, I'm sure you can figure it out." The scientist turned and walked out.  
  
Darien rested his head on his arm and waited for the pain to subside. He wondered what the next test would be. "Hobbes, where the hell are you?"  
  
****  
  
Karl and his men stopped just short of the compound. He radioed back to his men, "Get ready and remember, don't start shooting until I give the word." Karl signaled for the driver to move towards the guard tower.  
  
****  
  
Hobbes and the others were on their way to the compound. He turned to Mark, "How did you find out where we could find Fawkes?"  
  
"We have people in places you don't even know about. Not as spies, but as watchers." Mark said.  
  
"Spies, watchers.all the same to me, my friend."  
  
"Our watchers are not spies, Agent Hobbes. How do you think we found out about Agent Fawkes? My people not only watch humans but dominants as well. Our goal is to prevent war and the only way to do that is to keep an eye out on what both camps are doing."  
  
"Well, your intel better be correcto mundo. My partner's life is at stake here."  
  
"And so is the idea for co-existence. Agent Fawkes could play a valuable role towards peace between our species. He can't fall into Lewis' hands."  
  
Hobbes looked at Mark. The man had a genuine concern for Fawkes, but he was still suspicious of his motives, "Beware of Greeks bearing gifts."  
  
"What was that Agent Hobbes?" Mark asked.  
  
"Oh nothing.nothing at all." Hobbes watched the scenery go by. He hoped they were not too late.  
  
****  
  
Ed was brought back into the room again with the computer, "Ahh.again!?"  
  
"This time Dr. Tate, I will get the information I want." Stark motioned to one of the guards.  
  
"What makes you think I'll still help you?" Ed asked.  
  
"Because I don't think you would want someone you love getting hurt," Stark looked towards the door as it opened.  
  
Ed's expression changed to complete horror when Claire was pushed into the room, "Claire!?! No!" Ed charged at Stark but was stopped by two guards.  
  
"Now, now Dr. Tate, that won't help," Stark sneered.  
  
"Ed? Oh my God, Ed!" Claire exclaimed when she saw Ed. "What do you want, Stark?"  
  
"Well, hello to you too Dr. Keeply and what I want from you is information about the gland." Stark turned his gaze towards Ed, "Now, are you going to help me?"  
  
Ed looked at Claire, he couldn't let anything happen to her and he couldn't help Stark either. Sadly he bowed his said, "I'm sorry, Claire," Ed looked up and glared at Stark, "But I'm not helping you with anything."  
  
Claire sighed in relief. Stark smiled, "I thought so, Dr. Tate. I'll just have to try another way to persuade one of you." Stark nodded his head and again the door opened. Something that resembled a very large coffin was brought into the room.  
  
"What is that?" Ed said. He was alarmed and fear gripped him.  
  
"You wouldn't?" Claire cried out. She had recognized the cryopod right away.  
  
"I wouldn't? You don't know me very well, Dr. Keeply." Stark walked over to Claire, "I lost two scientists and Adam Reese because of Fawkes. He owes me and I plan on settling that debt one by one." Stark moved away from Claire and put his hand on the mysterious object, "This Dr. Tate is what we call a 'cryopod'. It's something we've developed. I'm sure you've heard of cryogenics."  
  
"Well yeah, sure.wait, you aren't going to.?" Ed asked. A large lump formed in his throat.  
  
"You've left me no choice." Stark opened the cyropod.  
  
"No! Wait! I'll help you; just don't do this to Claire." Ed said. He found it hard to swallow his throat was so dry. His stomach sank as he thought of Claire in the cryopod. He couldn't let Claire suffer. He would just have to take his chances with Stark.  
  
"Ed!" Claire shook her head, "Don't help him with anything." She pleaded with Ed. She saw the fear in his face. He was risking way too much to save her.  
  
Stark laughed and turned towards Claire, "Oh my dear, this isn't for you."  
  
"What?" Claire asked.  
  
"What?" Ed asked.  
  
Stark turned to face Ed, "It's meant for you."  
  
Horror-struck, Ed pleaded, "Wait, you said you needed my help with genetically altering dominant DNA!?!"  
  
"That's right, and I will need it. But first, I need some leverage in order for my plan to work." Stark nodded and Ed was injected with a red substance.  
  
"NOOOO!" Claire yelled. She tried to struggle but she was held back.  
  
Ed didn't have a chance to react. The drug worked quickly and Ed sagged against the guards. One wrapped his arms around Ed's chest while the other grabbed his legs. Together they lifted him up and placed him in the cryopod.  
  
"No, please, not him." Claire watched as the lid closed. Stark pushed the buttons and the cyropod was filled with the freezing vapors. She closed her eyes. A single tear slid down her face.  
  
Stark walked over to Claire, "Dr. Tate proved to be intelligent and resourceful. We like that in our scientists. If it wasn't for the dominant situation he would have slipped through our fingers."  
  
Claire glared at Stark with distain in her eyes, "You bastard. You can't do this!"  
  
"I believe I just did. Now as you well know, you have 48 hours to get him out of there before its too late. I suggest you think about your situation." Stark motioned to the guards to let Claire go.  
  
Claire ran over to the cryopod, she brushed the ice away that had already formed on the top of the glass lid. She peered through the glass and saw Ed. He looked peaceful as the cold slumber took over. Her tears fell on the lid and formed into ice right away.  
  
"Show Dr. Keeply her room," Stark ordered.  
  
"You won't get away with this, Darien will find us," Claire said spitefully even though she didn't know where he was.  
  
"I'm counting on it." Stark watched as Claire was taken from the room. He looked at the cryopod, "Sleep well, Dr. Tate."  
  
TBC. 


	8. Chapter 8

Thanks for replies. We received quite a few of them in private email, so thanks again and glad you all are enjoying this crossover. On that note, we're working on Chapter 9 and that should be out soon. Just have a detail to work out and it's all set to go.  
  
Alli and MM  
Chapter 8  
  
Karl held out his papers to the guard and was quickly ordered to proceed towards the compound. He smiled as he looked at the driver, "Too easy." The driver laughed in response.  
  
The three vehicles stopped in front of the massive building. The men got out and lined up in ranks. Karl waited patiently for their contact to greet them. He watched as the huge double doors opened and group of men and women came out.  
  
"Captain Hunter is it?"  
  
Karl nodded nonchalantly, "Yes, sir and these are my men, the best and the bravest."  
  
"I'm sure they are to have been chosen for this mission. I'm Colonel Anderson, the commander of this facility." The Colonel turned to another man and introduced him, "This is Dr. Mills, the director of the medical personnel and this is his assistant, Dr. Williams."  
  
Karl sensed immediately that Dr. Williams was his contact. The two men exchanged glances. Karl turned to his men and gave them the first signal. They fell into line. Karl turned and faced the others again, "We're ready, sir. Just tell us where to go."  
  
Colonel Anderson looked at the well trained squad, "Very well, Captain. Follow me."  
  
Karl glanced again at Dr. Williams and walked passed him as the squad walked passed. Dr. Williams excused himself and went in the other direction.  
  
Colonel Anderson directed Karl to station his men at the main holding facility. Karl smiled. The plan couldn't be going better than this. Darien was being held in that location, he was sure of it. As soon as Dr. Williams gave the signal, they would have Darien in their custody and on their way to the High Council.  
  
****  
  
Claire cried as she sat on her bed. For a moment, she had found Ed and just as quickly, he was taken away from her again. She loved Ed, but she couldn't risk giving information to Stark about the gland. Claire spoke softly into the air, "I'm sorry, Ed. I can't, I just can't let Stark know anything about the gland." She lay down on her bed and cried herself to sleep.  
  
****  
  
Karl's men were in position. As fate would have it, Karl was standing outside of Darien's room. He could sense the dominant and he also knew Darien was in pain.  
  
"I need two of your best men stationed out here. We have a very special project behind this door and we want it kept safe."  
  
"Yes, sir," Karl said. He turned and signaled for two of his men to stand guard. He glanced at the men and quietly gave them orders, "You know the signal, don't move in until then. Tranquilize Agent Fawkes and get him to the truck."  
  
"Anything wrong, Captain?"  
  
Karl didn't take his eyes of his men, "No, sir." He turned to face Colonel Anderson, "Just giving my men a quick pep talk."  
  
"Very well, come with me."  
  
Karl glanced at his men again before following the Colonel down the hall. Karl was about to get a tour when the alarm went off.  
  
The Colonel looked around, "What the.?"  
  
Karl had grabbed the Colonel and snapped his neck before he could finish his question. He ran back down the hall and the two men standing guard were already in the room.  
  
Darien sat up with a confused look on his face, "You're." Darien felt a sharp pain in his shoulder and slumped to the floor.  
  
Karl walked over to him and stared at him for a moment. 'Dr. Tate has a twin. If I didn't know better I'd say this was Tate,' he thought to himself. Gunfire, explosions and shouts snapped Karl from his trance. "Get him out," Karl ordered before he turned and ran from the room.  
  
One of the human guards ran to the security room to see what was going on. The room had been blown up. The weapons against the dominants had been destroyed. The guard turned and was greeted by a dominant who promptly snapped his neck.  
  
All of Karl's men had made it safely out of the facility. Darien was secured in one of the trucks and the convoy quickly took off. They approached the guard house where two dominants waited. They had taken care of the guards outside and jumped into the last truck. They sped off leaving a trail of dust behind them.  
  
****  
  
The door to Claire's room opened and she sat up on the bed. She watched as Stark came in with a guard behind him. Stark motioned for the man to place the tray on the table. He then turned and looked at Claire, "I didn't know you cared that much. I'm curious though, it is because of Dr. Tate's brains and or his looks that have you so attracted to him? I'd hate to think that this is your way of crossing the doctor/patient line."  
  
"It's called chemistry and if you're here to get me to talk. I won't," Claire sounded smug in her response to Stark.  
  
He smiled as he looked down at the floor, "Tisk, tisk, have you forgotten the state that Dr. Tate is in?"  
  
"You think you have this all worked out. I know that even if I do give you the information, you'll still keep him in that cryopod. You said so yourself that you were going to replace what Darien had taken from you and that Ed had almost slipped through your fingers." Claire folded her arms, "So, whatever you plan on doing to me, get it over with. I'm not talking."  
  
"Okay, then answer this question for me. Did the gland or counteragent effect the conversion in Fawkes?"  
  
Claire glared at Stark, "You must be deaf or something. I said I wasn't going to talk," Claire stood up and faced Stark, "Besides, the only one that can answer that question is in a cryopod."  
  
"My point exactly," Stark looked at his watch, "You now have 44 hours. Is it worth it? Sacrificing the man you love?" Stark smiled and walked out.  
  
Claire sat back down on the bed. "Oh, Ed," she said sorrowfully. She sat there trying desperately to remember Ed's smile, his laugh, the smell of the ocean on his skin. She had to remember him that way and not lying in a cryopod.  
  
"Bobby, you've got to find Darien fast. Ed doesn't have much time," Claire said into the air with the look of beseeching on her face. Claire suddenly thought back to Ed's last words, "Genetically altered dominant DNA, what did Ed mean by that? I have to find out what Stark is planning to do."  
Stark walked into the room where Ed was kept. There was a technician looking over the pod. "How's our guest doing?"  
  
"Everything went fine with the freezing. He's ready for transport."  
  
"Good, we'll be moving shortly. Don't want to stay in one place with Fawkes out there." Stark said looking into the cryopod, he smiled down at Ed.  
  
"I thought that was the plan?" The tech asked.  
  
"It is, but only after the 48 hours is up. I doubt they know how to unfreeze him after the time has expired."  
  
"Do you think she'll talk?"  
  
"No, she won't give up the gland so easily. Once I have Fawkes, I'll have all the information I need. Any help that Dr. Keeply gives me is just a bonus." Stark started to leave, "Still, I'm curious to see how long she'll last knowing her love is getting closer to the point of no return. Fawkes went to great lengths for Dr. Easton; I wonder what she'll do? I don't plan on letting her go." Stark smiled and walked out of the room.  
  
****  
  
"Looks like dominants did this," Ray said looking at the dead men strewn around the compound.  
  
"It was a quick strike, they knew what they were after," Mark replied.  
  
Hobbes became infuriated, "Fawkes is not a *what* he's a person, human or whatever."  
  
Ray looked at Tom, "Well, where do we go from here?"  
  
Tom looked around first before returning his gaze to Ray, "I don't know."  
  
"This is just great!" Hobbes yelled, "I'm gonna get my candy ass fired for losing Fawkes." Hobbes went up to Mark, "You were able to find this place, think you can pull that trick out of your hat again?"  
  
"I'll try," Mark wasn't very reassuring.  
  
Hobbes grunted and walked away. His phone rang and reached into his pocket, "Hobbes.Sloan? Slow down, what was that?" Hobbes' face became red. He hung up and looked at the other men, "We have another problem, Claire is missing." He slowly put the phone back in his jacket.  
  
Ray shook his head and looked down at the ground, "They're picking us off one by one."  
  
Tom thought about the situation for a moment, "We need to get back to the lab to regroup."  
  
The four men got back in the car and drove off. Neither one said a word until they were all standing in Walter's office.  
  
****  
  
Darien's head didn't hurt as much by the time he woke up. He tried to move his hands but he was bound, "Aw crap." He slowly sat up. Realizing right away that he was no longer on a cold floor but on a cot, the room was different too. He looked around wearily, "Okay, now what?" He sensed other dominants, quite a few of them outside the door. He had started to quicksilver his wrists to break the cuffs when the door opened.  
  
"Good you're awake, get up and let's go." One of the guards said.  
  
"Some how I doubt it's to see the wizard," Darien said as he was pushed down the hall.  
  
Darien surveyed the surroundings. There were odd carvings in the walls and dominants stared at him as they walked. Darien would smile gleefully, "Hey, how are you?" He noted the seriousness of the emotions, "Man, you are some uptight people. Don't you party?"  
  
They stopped in front of the double doors, "Whoa.the Presidential suite, guess you dudes do know how to party."  
  
Darien was pushed inside and guided to stand in the center of the room. His hands were still bound behind his back. He glared at the faces in front of him. "What do you want with me?" Darien asked. He watched as Lewis backed away from him.  
  
"We just saved your life."  
  
"Funny way of doing it.can I go now?" Darien tried to read them but they had cleared their minds. Darien laughed, "You're afraid of me.you should be." Darien smiled.  
  
The Council members watched as a small trickle of a silvery substance streaked down Darien's face. It had started at his hairline. Another trickle streaked down the other side. Darien usually allowed the quicksilver to flow faster, but he was taking his time. The Council stood up and watched as Darien turned like polished silver then disappeared. The lead Council member yelled at Lewis, "Where is he?"  
  
"Oh, I'm still around," Darien's voice said.  
  
The Council leader looked around trying to sense him, but Darien's masking abilities were too strong. The headache was too weak to affect him. The Council heard a clanking sound on the table. Darien had broken the cuffs and dropped them. They watched as the cuffs that had bound Darien's hands suddenly appeared on the table. The Council grew restless and Lewis loved every minute of it.  
  
"Bring him back, NOW!!" The head of the Council yelled out.  
  
Darien grabbed the Council leader and held him in a head lock, "I could break your neck right now." To illustrate his point, Darien pushed on the dominant's neck. Darien heard guns clicking.  
  
"You see, you can't leave here." The leader choked.  
  
Darien laughed, "Only if they can see us," he quicksilvered the dominant. "It's not only me; I can make pretty much anything disappear. I'm betting that you really don't want me dead. But then again, to take me out, they would have to go through you and I'm willing to take that chance. Are you?"  
  
"I'm ready to die,"  
  
"Are you.or are you afraid?" Darien whispered.  
  
"No, Darien. I think it's you who are afraid.afraid of what you are."  
  
"And what would that be?" Darien asked.  
  
"You're a dominant, a special dominant."  
  
Darien let go and reappeared. "No, I'm not." Darien shook his head and looked down at his feet, "I wasn't born this way." He walked over to Lewis and glared, "You made me."  
  
"You may have born human, but you know as well as I do that that is not what you are now. You *are* one of us."  
  
"No, you're wrong. I'm not some brunette that dyed her hair blonde and now calls herself a blonde. Regardless of what you want to call me.I'm human."  
  
"No, Darien," Lewis stepped up to Darien and stood in front of him, "Genetically speaking, she is still a brunette. The DNA is not altered by artificial hair coloring." Darien lowered his head. Lewis smiled, "What are you, genetically speaking of course? Homo-Sapien or what Walter Attwood has termed us.Homo-Dominant?"  
  
Darien didn't answer.  
  
"What is your DNA differential compared to other humans?" The leader of the Council asked.  
  
Darien continued to look down at the floor, "1.6%."  
  
"You see, not so human after all. You are one of us; you just haven't realized that yet." Lewis said. He walked away leaving Darien alone in the center of the chamber.  
  
"Where is Dr. Ed Tate?" another council member asked.  
  
Darien laughed, "Do you really think that I would tell you where he is? You're dumber than I thought."  
  
"Why do you help humans? You know we will prevail." One of the Council members said.  
  
"Yeah, that's what Napoleon thought until he went to Waterloo." Darien shifted his weight and leaned to his right and ran his hand over his face, "Okay, this whole natural selection thing I get it, I mean I've been readin' up on this evolution stuff. So, why force it? Isn't nature supposed to take care of it? Why not sit back, down a few beers and watch it all go by?"  
  
"Because, two species cannot occupy the same ecological niche at the same time; you should know that from your reading." The lead member said.  
  
"So, that gives you the license to kill?" Darien asked.  
  
"From the dawn of time until the present day, a single biological imperative has ruled every species that has ever existed on this planet." The lead member stated as he looked seriously at Darien.  
  
"Survival of the fittest," Lewis added.  
  
Darien turned his gaze towards Lewis.  
  
"You can't fight it, you can't hide from it.it's our destiny and now yours." Lewis said.  
  
"I'm not one of you...I don't have to follow your ways." Darien said sternly.  
  
"Darien you of all people know that the past is for the foolish, the wise live in the present. This is who you are." Lewis stated.  
  
Darien shook his head, "If you're going to quote Napoleon at least do it right. * The stupid speak of the past, the wise of the present, and fools of the future.* If you think you can win this evolutionary war than you're the fools."  
  
"No, Darien.you're the fool if you think humans can survive natural selection. We have been selected to be the new higher species in the natural order. The strong will always survive; it is the weak that will become extinct." Lewis said.  
  
"Yeah.look what happened to the dinosaurs.they were pretty dominant at the time. All it took was one giant meteor to wipe them out and." Darien snapped his fingers together, *snap* ".the so called weak inferior life forms took over. One meteor.that's all.mankind is the meteor and you are the dinosaurs. So, take your Darwin theories and take a hike."  
  
Angrily, the leader stood up, "Take him out of here and put two guards on him at all times."  
  
"Does this mean I won?" Darien smirked proudly.  
  
Two guards grabbed him forcefully by his arms and led him out of the chamber.  
  
Darien looked at one of the guards, "I did good didn't I?"  
  
He looked at the other guard and he wiggled his brows, "Heh.you gotta admit it, I was on tonight."  
  
As the doors slowly closed, the Council could still hear Darien's colloquy, "I should have joined the debate team in High School, but I was too busy with the B&E thing, you know what I'm saying?"  
  
The doors closed behind Darien and the two guards.  
  
Lewis walked to the center of the room. Darien had made fools out of the Council and he had loved every minute of it. Lewis wasn't done though; he still had a few more tricks up his sleeve. "I can turn him, as the humans say; there is more than one way to skin a cat."  
  
"Do it, Lewis, or you will be the one being skinned." The Council members abruptly got up and left the chamber.  
  
"As you wish," Lewis said under his breath with acrimony in his voice. Lewis left the chamber and met with one of the guards outside. "Don't feed him for a while and have Darcy come to my room." Lewis instructed the guard and walked away.  
  
****  
  
Darien didn't know how long he had been sitting there. The dominants there were pretty good at masking themselves or they weren't allowed near his cell. He stared at his tattoo as he ran a finger across the bump feeling the now useless monitor under his skin. "Where do I belong?" He asked out loud. Since his conversation with the Council he had started to wonder himself.  
  
Darien's head shot up as he sensed someone was coming, but he felt no threat. The door opened and woman appeared with a tray of food. She sat down on the bed next to him and held the tray in her lap.  
  
"Hello, Darien, I'm Darcy."  
  
"Double D.Darcy" He pointed to her and then himself, "Darien." They both smiled. "Whoa.a dominant that smiles.it's a miracle."  
  
"Why are you fighting this?"  
  
"What.not you too? Don't they ever give up?" Darien said. He got up and paced the room.  
  
"I was once like you.human."  
  
"What.you were? Nah.can't be.Lewis is just trying to get to me."  
  
"Search me, Darien and you'll see." Darcy dropped her shield and allowed Darien to read her.  
  
Darien ran his hand through his hair, "And here I thought I was the first. Looks like I'm a sequel again."  
  
"Excuse me?"  
  
"Ah, nothing." Darien sat back down. "So, you were human.do you miss it?"  
  
"What, miss being weak and vulnerable, powerless. Come on, this is way better than being human." Darcy touched Darien's hand, "The best night of my life was when Lynch put that tick in me. I wish Kelly could have experienced this." Darcy looked down.  
  
"Wait.Kelly.I've heard of her." Darien looked at her, "You're that Darcy? I mean, the one that was with Kelly?"  
  
"Yes, that's me." Darcy smiled.  
  
"Ed couldn't save her. She had some reaction or something; her body couldn't take the conversion, some scientific thing like that." Darien said sadly.  
  
"She didn't live?" She ran her hand over Darien's face, "You look so much like him."  
  
"Who? Ed? Yeah, it's kind of weird, to have a twin and not be your birth twin or related." Darien looked at the young girl who showed no grief at the loss of a friend, "I guess the serum worked on you?"  
  
"Yes, it did, but not like it worked on you." Darcy placed her hand on his face, "You've become what we've strived to be. You've achieved a level that so few of our kind have reached. Why can't you see that?" She leaned forward slightly, her lips just inches away from Darien's lips. "Let go of your humanity, Darien," she lightly kissed his lips and pulled back. "You can have power, prestige, respect." She kissed him again, but lightly stroked his bottom lip with her tongue this time, ".you can be so much more as a dominant than as a human. Give in to it, Darien." She looked into his eyes, "Have you made love yet since converting?"  
  
"No.almost." Darien ran his hand through her hair.  
  
Darcy smiled, "Time for show and tell." She put the tray on the floor. Darcy looked into Darien's eyes. She saw them burning with desire. She forced her kiss on him this time, pressing hard on his lips.  
  
Darien responded with a groan and held her head tight. He opened his mouth and their tongues touched, taking in the taste of the other. Darcy's hand lightly skimmed across the front of his pants. He felt her emotion, her passion, her desire and combined with his, it was more than he could control. In his mind he heard Darcy say again, 'Let go of your humanity, Darien.' He pressed his lips harder to hers. One of his hands sneaked under her shirt, she wasn't wearing a bra and he moaned his delight as his hand found the warm flesh of her breast.  
  
All vestiges of humanity, all the things that Tom had taught him, were gone. The dominant instincts he fought so hard to control, to keep at bay were released in one moment.  
  
Darcy broke the kiss and arched forward into his caress. Darien took that opportunity and her shirt came off. He pushed Darcy down on his bed and lay on top of her. His lips and tongue explored her half naked body.  
  
Lewis stood far enough away to sense what was going on. He felt the strong emotion coming from Darien and Darcy. A smile chipped away the stone cold expression, he turned and walked away.  
  
TBC. 


	9. Chapter 9

Thanks for the feedback, its most appreciated.  
  
Alli and MM  
Chapter 9  
  
Stark escorted Claire to his office. She sat down on the chair across from his desk. He watched her for a few moments, and then slid the phone towards her. Claire studied the gesture confused, "What is it that you want me to do?" she asked.  
  
Stark put his hands together and smiled, "I want you to make a phone call."  
  
Claire hesitated for a moment and then reached for the phone, "Who do you want me to call?"  
  
"Fawkes."  
  
****  
  
"Well, Darien, how do you feel?" The gray haired man asked.  
  
Darien sat on a chair in the middle of a white room. "Fine." Darien looked forward as Lewis walked around him.  
  
This kind of setting was typical for Lewis while he trained his Chameleons. There were no distractions, nothing pleasing to the eye, just him and his killer. "What is your objective?"  
  
"Kill humans."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"They are inferior."  
  
"But, you are human."  
  
Darien glared up at Lewis as if he said something insulting, "Not anymore."  
  
Lewis smiled, his plan had worked and now Darien belonged to him. He had actually wanted to convert Dr. Tate, but this turned out even better. There in front of him was a dominant like no other. A Chameleon that literally blended in, this one didn't have to go through all the infiltrating, trying to get inside. All he had to do was turn invisible, walk in and make the kill without anyone even noticing. Now Lewis had the advantage.  
  
There would be other ways Lewis could use Darien and it all had to with the High Council. Lewis held leverage now. He had a weapon at his command that would put fear into any dominant and that was not an easy thing to do.  
  
Lewis opened up the black case and prepared a clear liquid to be injected into Darien to make his brainwashing complete. Once Lewis' special formula was working inside Darien, he would send him out to complete his first task.  
  
****  
  
Darien waited for what seemed like forever, and then he saw his opportunity. The last student had left the building. He had watched Walter from the bushes for two hours, as he waited for the right moment. He saw the other three huddled in the lab when Walter motioned them into his office. He could sense urgency and concern from Walter.  
  
"It's show time," Darien whispered as he quicksilvered and moved to the front door of the building. He snuck passed the guard's station, and before he entered the double doors; he masked himself so he would not be detected by Tom. He headed towards Walter's office and listened.  
  
Walter paced in his office, "I just received a call from Claire. She said she's being held by Stark and he has Ed, which confirms the message that Ed sent me. The only problem is he wants Darien to meet him." Walter said.  
  
"What do we do, Walter? We haven't been able to find Darien." Sloan said.  
  
"I don't know. But we need to get Ed back. I was wrong about him," Walter looked at Sloan, "I should have trusted Claire's judgment."  
  
"No, you should have trusted Ed." Sloan got up and walked out of the room.  
  
Hobbes stood there looking at her. He turned his attention on Walter, "Okay, so where does Stark want to meet?"  
  
Walter held up a piece a paper, "He wants to meet Darien halfway in Laguna Nigel. It'll take about an hour to get there."  
  
"What do we do about Darien?" Tom asked.  
  
Hobbes thought for a moment, "What we need is a plan."  
  
Darien strained to hear the conversation in his mind. When the new weapon was used on him earlier, the humans' thoughts sounded muffled as if he were underwater. But now it was clear, he had regained his full abilities. He showed no emotion as he listened to Walter's recount of Claire's phone call. He simply shook his head and sauntered over to the fire alarm.  
  
"Stark, you are way out of your league on this one," Darien pulled the lever down and set the alarm. Bells rang out in the lab.  
  
"Whoa, what, did someone leave a Bunsen Burner on or somethin'? Come on, let's move out, people." Hobbes said as he motioned them to leave.  
  
Darien smiled as he watched Hobbes and the others quickly leave the office and exit the building. He went into Walter's office, retrieved the item from Walter's desk, and walked out.  
  
"Right..." Darien showed no emotion has he picked up a stool and started smashing everything in sight. The bells didn't bother him; he was too focused on destroying the lab. Computer monitors went flying across the room and landing on the floor only to explode on impact. He poured chemicals all over the floor and set the room on fire.  
  
Phase two of his plan was about to begin.  
  
****  
  
Connor entered Stark's office. He smiled at Claire as he addressed Stark, "We are ready to move Dr. Tate out."  
  
Stark looked pleased, "Proceed."  
  
Connor winked at Claire and walked out.  
  
Stark smiled at Claire, "Shall we?" Stark got up and moved over to Claire. She stood and walked out of the office.  
  
****  
  
"They are moving out, sir, you were right." The dominant announced into his cell phone.  
  
"Good. Keep me informed of their movements. If our information is correct from our insider, Fawkes will be in place to acquire Dr. Tate." Lewis said.  
  
"Yes sir." The dominant followed the convoy into the night.  
  
****  
  
Darien watched as the truck made a stop. He saw in his mind two cryopods and six guards. One of the cryopods was already in use and he knew that Ed was in that one. The limo behind the truck came to a stop. He watched as Stark got out of the limo along with Connor and Claire. Darien smiled, 'Revenge is a dish best served cold.'  
  
**** Stark nodded to Connor, "Get ready. I'm sure he'll be here," Stark paused to look around, "If he's not here already." Stark got back into the limo and motioned the driver to proceed to the vantage point so he can view his victory from a safe place. He'll gloat in Darien's face later when the quicksilver is being pumped out of his head. The thoughts of Darien in agony sent a warm rush through his body. This was the day he waited for. "Yes, sir." Connor grabbed Claire and proceeded to take her to the truck. Once the back door was opened and a ladder was in place, he pushed Claire towards it, "Get in." Claire climbed into the back of the truck. Connor ordered his men to prepare the trap for Darien. They had a short time to prepare themselves. Darien should arrive at any moment. One of the men jumped out of the truck to secure the controls on the remote detonators for the truck. After a few minutes, the other two men prepared their firearms and other weapons that were stored under the carriage of the truck towards the first set of tires. Claire sat near Ed's cryopod. It was difficult for her to see him through all of the ice on the inside of the glass. She wanted nothing more than to be able to touch him and hear his laugh and see him smile again. She hoped her act in Stark's office convinced him that she had spoken to Darien and not someone else. The timer that Stark had installed on Ed's cyropod showed that time was nearly up. If Hobbes didn't get there soon, she may never see Ed again. She had no idea how to unfreeze him after the 48 hours were up.  
  
Claire had an idea, but it all depended on how soon Hobbes and Tom showed up. She would have to wait for the right moment and then she would put her plan in motion.  
  
Connor completed his work on the controls of the empty cryopod. He smiled at Claire and jumped out of the truck. He looked around. He noticed none of his men returned. "Rychek....Petry...." Before he called out his last man's name, he felt a cool breeze on his neck. "I guess your spidey sense is on the fritz," Darien whispered in his ear threateningly. He shook off the quicksilver, "Let's get ready to rumble."  
  
Stark watched from his vantage point, he had seen the men go down and tried to contact Connor, but he was too late when he saw Darien appear. He had been worried that his plan may fail, but with Connor fighting Darien, it wouldn't be a contest.  
  
Claire heard Darien's voice and she got up to see. To her surprise there he was, "Bobby must have found him." She smiled and went over to Ed's cryopod. She had studied the one they had for Adam Reese, so she knew the mechanics behind it.  
  
Claire pushed a couple buttons and the unfreezing process started. She watched as the freezing vapors seemed to be sucked out of the chamber. The ice on the inside started to melt.  
  
Outside, Darien severely beat up on Connor. "You know, I remember you kicking my ass all the time," Darien sneered at Connor.  
  
"It's not over yet," Connor winced in pain.  
  
Darien smiled, "This is just too easy." Darien waited for Connor to attack him, but it never came. Instead, Connor took off running as best he could. "I guess he's right, it's not over. We fight another day, my friend. You can count on it." Darien turned his attention to the truck, "Now to see what my Keeper is up to with her lover boy."  
  
Darien climbed into the back of the truck, "Am I too late?"  
  
Claire hugged Darien, "No, I've started the unfreezing process already. How did you get away?"  
  
"Long story, I'll tell you later. Right now, lets just concentrate on Ed," Darien watched as Claire nodded and continued to monitor Ed.  
  
Darien kept his shield up. He knew that Hobbes and the other would be here soon, he read that from Claire. The last thing he needed was for Tom to sense him and that ruin the whole plan.  
  
The lid opened and Claire immediately wrapped Ed in a blanket, "We need to warm up his body some more."  
  
Darien smiled at the perfect opportunity, "I can take care of that."  
  
Claire stepped aside. Darien lifted Ed out of the cryopod and let the quicksilver flow over both of them. Claire smiled, "Very good, Darien. The insulating polymer will hold in your body heat. I'll see if I can find another blanket to wrap him up in."  
  
"Okay, Claire, you do that," Darien's tone was half hearted.  
  
Claire stopped for a moment and turned around, "Are you okay?"  
  
There was no answer, only the sound of foot steps on the ladder. Claire stood at the back of the truck, "Darien?"  
  
No answer.  
  
"Darien!"  
  
Claire saw a pair of thermals on the floor of the truck. She put them on and looked around. Darien and Ed were no where to be seen. Fear ran through her body, "Oh no." She jumped from the truck and yelled out Darien's name again. The only sound she heard was a car speeding off in the distance.  
  
****  
  
Hobbes, Tom and the others reached the rendezvous point where Stark was supposed to meet Darien. "This doesn't look good, my friend," Hobbes said looking around. They walked cautiously towards the truck. Sloan looked at Tom, "Do you sense anything?"  
  
Tom raised a brow as he reached out to survey the area, "One survivor in the truck. Everyone else is dead."  
  
Hobbes, Tom and Ray all had their guns drawn as the approached the truck. Hobbes mouthed to the others, "One.two.three!" They jumped and raised their weapons.  
  
"Freeze!" Hobbes yelled. He slowly lowered his weapon when he saw Claire standing by an open cryopod. "Claire?"  
  
Claire turned and looked at Hobbes, her eyes swollen from crying, "He took him, Bobby. He killed them and then took him."  
  
Sloan came to the back of the truck. "Who did this?" Sloan asked.  
  
"Darien," Claire said.  
  
Hobbes got up into truck and looked at the cyropod, "This one was in use." Hobbes put his arm around Claire's shoulder.  
  
Tom helped Sloan into the truck. She walked over to where Claire and Hobbes were standing, "These look like."  
  
Claire reached into the pod and picked up the puka shell necklace, "Ed was in this one. I saw it when Stark had him frozen."  
  
Sloan covered her mouth, "Oh my God, no, not Ed."  
  
"Okay, look you all are going to have to explain this," Ray said looking at the pods. "These look like a couple of coffins to me."  
  
"Have you heard of cyrogenics?" Claire questioned still holding onto the necklace.  
  
"You're talking about freezing people?" Ray answered.  
  
"Chrysalis uses these cryopods to freeze people in the hope of reviving them in the future. They've developed a way to do this successfully." Claire said.  
  
"Wait.you mean to tell me that Dr. Tate was frozen?" Ray asked.  
  
"Yep.just like all the others." Hobbes added.  
  
"Others? And here I thought that this whole dominant thing was about as weird as it could get.then I meet you people and weird just goes right out the window." Ray commented.  
  
"You think this is weird, you should have been with us the time that Bigfoot wanted to mate with Fawkes." Hobbes said.  
  
Tom, Sloan and Ray all turned to Hobbes and shot him an astonished look. Hobbes glanced back, "It's true, tell 'em Keepie."  
  
"Not now, Bobby." Claire put the necklace on. The others watched.  
  
"Okay, how did Fawkes know to meet Stark here?" Hobbes asked.  
  
Sloan's phone rang at that moment. She picked it up, it was Walter. A horrified look came across her face as Walter informed her that the lab had been destroyed by a fire and everything was lost. She closed her phone and just stared for a moment.  
  
Tom put his hand on her shoulder, "What is it, Sloan?"  
  
"It's the lab.it's gone.everything is gone." Sloan sounded like someone close to her had died.  
  
"What?" Ray asked.  
  
"The lab.it caught on fire, all our research, everything is gone." Sloan started to cry. Tom held her tight.  
  
****  
  
Ed woke up and felt a presence next to him. His eyes focused on the familiar face, "Darien?"  
  
"Yeah, it's me. You gave me quite a scare." Darien said.  
  
"What year is it?" Ed asked.  
  
Darien smiled, "Don't worry, its still 2003. You were only frozen for a day."  
  
Ed looked suspiciously around the room, "Where am I?"  
  
"Well, you're not at home and not at the lab because I destroyed the lab." Darien said with a slight smirk on his face.  
  
Ed looked shock, "Wait, did you just say that you destroyed the lab?"  
  
Darien smiled and leaned over Ed, "I sure did." He grabbed Ed by his shirt and roughly hoisted him from the bed.  
  
They were eye to eye so fast Ed was dizzy from the sudden movement, "Darien.what's wrong." Realization hit Ed when his eyes focused on Darien's eyes. "Oh my God!"  
  
Darien jerked his head to one side and smiled. He threw Ed to the floor quickly with his cat like reflexes. Ed looked up and saw the look on Darien's face, "Darien, you don't have to do this.I can help you."  
  
"Too late for that now, Ed," Darien said Ed's name with a harsh tone. "Besides, I don't want your help or Claire's for that matter.I like the new me after all."  
  
Ed tried to scoot away but Darien caught his legs and spun him over on his stomach. He felt Darien's weight on his back, "What are you doing?"  
  
"Tying you up," Darien grabbed Ed's arms and tied them together tightly. He watched Ed's face grimace from the pain and that made him smile even more. "There are some people who want to meet you." When Darien was done he lifted Ed off the floor and they faced each other again.  
  
"You betrayed me.us." Ed said accusingly. "How long were you pretending to be friends, to be brothers?"  
  
Darien patted Ed's face with the palm of his hand, "Everything from before wasn't an act. Let's just say I had an epiphany and go with that, okay?" Darien pushed Ed forward and they left the room in silence.  
  
****  
  
Ed was face to face with two large double doors. They opened and Darien pushed him inside. Darien stopped pushing Ed when they reached the center of the room. Ed looked around, "What do you want from me?"  
  
Darien punched Ed in the kidney area and he dropped to his knees, "Where are your manners?" Darien bent down and grabbed Ed by his shirt and lifted him up to a standing position.  
  
"So, you're Dr. Ed Tate, the one that Dr. Copeland spoke so highly about. Your resemblance to Agent Fawkes is remarkable.almost as if you two were clones. Like Lynch."  
  
It was at that moment that Ed knew where he was. He turned to face Darien, "You brought me to the High Council.Why?"  
  
"Relax, Ed. They just want to talk to you, they want Sloan killed." Darien looked at his watch, "Hmm.speaking of. Sorry, bro, but it's time for me to disappear." Darien chuckled, ".that was funny wasn't it?"  
  
Ed looked at the Council members than back at Darien, "No.no you wouldn't?"  
  
Darien walked away as he whistled. Ed tried to run after him but hands grabbed him, "Darien! NO!!!" Ed twisted his torso trying to break free but the hands on him were too strong and they held Ed in place. He let out one last plea before the doors shut, "Darien!!!" Ed's head fell forward and he stopped his fight, "God, no.please."  
  
"Hello again, Dr. Tate."  
  
Ed was turned around and stared into Lewis' face, "Damn you."  
  
Lewis smiled. "Now Dr. Tate, someone in your position should use proper language."  
  
"Okay, you're like the second person that has commented on my language and you know what? I don't care. You're going to kill me anyway, so I might as well be upfront with the way I feel."  
  
"Dr. Tate, we've never had any plans to kill you, only Drs. Ann Coulter and Sloan Parker. You however, we've been watching ever since you worked with Dr. Ian Copeland. He said that killing you would be a waste and that we could benefit from someone like you." Lewis said.  
  
"You know I would never voluntarily betray my people. I think I proved that already." Ed said stoically.  
  
"Yes, that you have, no matter." Lewis turned and headed for the double doors, "You will." The doors closed behind him.  
  
Ed was turned around again to face the council. "I think I was better off frozen," he mumbled to himself.  
  
****  
  
Stark stood before Sharon giving her a full report on what happened. Sharon had been listening intently.  
  
"Fawkes was able to overpower my men and take Dr. Tate. From what I've read from Dr. Tate's notes, he seems to have the ability to interrupt electrical impulses in the brain. I thought I had found a way around that."  
  
"You thought? Your thinking cost us Dr. Tate. Not to mention your failure again at apprehending Darien Fawkes. They are on to you by now and will take extra precautions with their computer securities." Sharon got up and walked up to Stark, "Don't fail me again." She walked out.  
  
"Believe me, I have no intentions of failing again," Stark said with a vengeance.  
  
****  
  
Walter and Sloan walked through what remained of the lab. It was all gone. All the work and information accumulated was all gone. They would have to start from scratch. Walter hoped that Ed had enough information stored on his laptop at his apartment.  
  
Sloan looked like everything was hopeless. "Ed is still missing, Darien's lost control, what do we do?"  
  
"I don't know, Sloan." Walter sounded defeated. "Lewis has really thought this through."  
  
"Do you think Darien did this?"  
  
"I wouldn't be surprised. I think he was here last night while we were all in my office. He must have set the fire alarm off. When we left, he took the address. He knew exactly where Stark was going to take Ed."  
  
"Do you think." Sloan trailed off. She couldn't say it.  
  
"In Darien's state of mind, he's very capable."  
  
Tom and the others came in and surveyed the damage. Hobbes kicked over some burnt equipment, "This looks like something Fawkes would do when he's doing the red eyed mambo."  
  
Sloan looked at Hobbes, "What would he do to Ed?"  
  
Hobbes thought back to all the times when Darien was quicksilver mad, "Well, actually that would depend on what stage he was in. Red eye stage, he would just kill him. Silver eye stage he would play with him like a cat plays with a mouse and when he got bored, then he'd kill him. But we're not talking about quicksilver madness here are we?"  
  
"Sloan, I don't think that Lewis would want Ed dead. He's too smart of a human. Dr. Ian Copeland tried to get Ed to join him, I'm sure that Lewis will do the same." Tom said.  
  
"Like before," Sloan's eyes were watering.  
  
"Yes, like before," Tom's tone was serious. He wasn't sure if Lewis would try to use that drug on him again or just go ahead and alter Ed's DNA. He knew that Darien would be regarded as a predator and that worried him. Darien was too strong and his masking capabilities exceeded Tom's or even the top Chameleon for that matter. And not to mention that Darien did have an advantage over him, for all he knew, Darien could be with them now and he would have no way of knowing until it was too late.  
  
"Ah, hello.what about the broad in the limo?" Hobbes asked. "When Fawkes was first taken, he was acting all weird and stuff. Like he was drunk."  
  
"You mean like she was able to interrupt his electrical impulses in his mind. Like what Kevin did to me and Darien at the military base." Sloan said. "Is that possible? Maybe she used another dominant."  
  
"I don't think so. Darien's mind is too strong for a dominant to interrupt his brain waves for him to react physically." Tom added.  
  
"A weapon then." Sloan turned towards Walter, "She did have this lab locked up, who knows what information she got from our research and you."  
  
"It's possible, I'll see if I can contact her and find out. If we can have this weapon." Walter stopped.  
  
"We can use it on Darien. But you can't be near it, we may need you." Sloan said looking at Tom.  
  
Tom nodded.  
  
*****  
  
Lewis smiled at Darcy, "The human mind is so fragile. Breaking Dr. Tate is going to be easier than I thought. Nothing hurts more than having a brother betray you. Tell the guard to move him into isolation. No food or water until I say so and then get yourself ready for your performance."  
  
"Yes, sir." Darcy answered and quickly walked away.  
  
Lewis turned his senses back on Ed, "You care too much, Dr. Tate. When I've taken away everything you care about, you'll be ours to control."  
  
Ed was led down a series of halls and then some stairs. It was getting darker as they went. He figured that the dominants had taken him below ground. 'Lewis must have programmed Darien like he did Tom,' Ed thought to himself as he walked.  
  
Ed didn't say a word until he saw the sliding metal door. It slide open like a sliding glass door to reveal a room barely large enough for a person of average height to move around. Ed being over six feet in height wouldn't be able to stand without hitting his head on the ceiling. 'Solitary confinement,' Ed thought to himself as fear gripped him. He began to fight. Twisting his body and trying to get traction with his shoes on the concrete floor. "NO!! NO!! Don't put me in there!" Ed yelled out.  
  
Another guard came to help and opened the door. Ed used the leverage from the guards holding him and hoisted his legs up in the air and planted a foot on either side of the door frame. He pushed back with all his strength, "I'm not going in there!"  
  
The third guard punched Ed in the solar plexus. His body went limp and his legs fell to the ground. They untied his hands, and tossed him into the room and onto the floor. Ed moaned as he tried to get up. He heard the metal door slide shut then lock behind him. Ed staggered to his feet and banged on the door, no one listened. He slid down the door and sat on the floor, fighting back the nausea. Ed looked around the room. The walls were solid concrete and tan in color. There were no windows, no bed, no toilet, and no sink in fact, the room was completely empty except for him.  
  
Ed didn't have far to go to reach the back of the tiny cell. He leaned up against the wall, "I've gone from a freezer coffin to a concrete coffin.just great!" Ed tested the height of the cell and was barely able to stand up straight, "Confinement.this is meant for a dominant, they hate confinement like this. Well, I'm not all that thrilled about it either." Ed sat back down and tried to focus on something else, but the memories rushed back at him.  
  
A nice sunny day on the Kona Coast of Hawaii and Ed was on vacation from just finishing his doctorate. He had spent the good part of the morning surfing and now it was time for some snorkeling.  
  
Ed had trained himself to hold his breath for a long time, it took time and practice but he was able to do it. He took a deep breath and dived underwater to check out the ocean bottom. He had gone down further than expected and an underwater current had taken him within a cavern.  
  
The strong current held him there, trapped underwater; his left heel got stuck in a crevice. He struggled to free himself and the walls of the cavern seemed to close in on him. The air in his lungs was nearly gone as he watched bubbles escaped his mouth as he tried to scream.  
  
In the small cell, Ed covered his head with his hands as he tried to escape the vision. To this day he still doesn't know how he broke free of the death grip the cavern had on him. The only thing that remained from his near death was mild claustrophobia. Elevators bothered him more than anything. At least the lab at the University was on the second floor. It didn't take long for him to run up the stairs.  
  
Now, he found himself in a cell that was barely high enough for him to stand and worst of all, no windows. Ed felt his heart start to beat hard and his chest became heavy. He began to sweat as it became more difficult for him to breathe.  
  
****  
  
Darcy lay on Darien's lap facing him as his hand ran through her hair. Her hand played with the front of his pants. A soft animal growl escaped his lips, "Keep that up and you'll be late."  
  
"Hmm.maybe that's a good thing," Darcy started to unbuckle Darien's pants and then slowly pulled down the zipper.  
  
"Darcy," Darien moaned and rested his head on the back of the couch. It didn't take long for Darien to cover the both of them with a silvery blanket. "I hate that Lewis has you going to Ed," he said in between gasps from Darcy's light stroking.  
  
"If he really loves Claire like you say, I doubt it will get very far. I guess we'll find out won't we," Darcy said as she firmly held Darien.  
  
"If he does, then I'll." Darien growled as Darcy forced him into non-verbal communication.  
  
Since her mouth was busy, Darcy sent Darien a mental message, 'So territorial, you really are a dominant now aren't you?"  
  
Darien groaned his answer.  
  
****  
  
The cell door opened. A guard came in and looked at the pathetic sight before him. He smiled, grabbed Ed by his hair and dragged him out of the cell. "You humans are so weak," he said vehemently as he threw Ed to the floor.  
  
The guard looked down at him, "This is going to be easier than I thought." He picked up Ed and pushed him up against the wall.  
  
"Don't put me back in there," Ed pleaded.  
  
"Just wanted to give you taste of what Lewis went through and even Tom. You didn't like it did you?" The guard hissed in Ed's ear.  
  
"No, I'm." Ed stopped; he didn't want the dominant to know his weaknesses.  
  
The guard pushed Ed harder into the wall, "What.you're what?"  
  
"I didn't like it," Ed said hoping that that was what the dominant wanted to hear.  
  
The guard stepped back and Ed turned around slowly to face the slightly shorter dominant. He motioned for the other two guards to drag Ed away.  
  
****  
  
Darien sat with Lewis and they made plans to bring Sloan to the compound. Darcy walked to the new cell where Ed had been transferred to. It was time for to see him again after all these years. 'What a surprise he's going to have,' she thought to herself as she prepared to play the victim.  
  
**** Ed was brought to another cell and was pushed inside. He watched as the door was closed, "Just frickin' great!" he yelled out loud. As he started to sit down using the wall for support when he spotted a pair of eyes that stared back at him. 'It can't be,' Ed thought to himself.  
  
"Darcy?" Ed asked not really believing who he might be looking at.  
  
The young girl looked at the man across the room. "Dr. Tate, is it really you?"  
  
"I don't believe it.I thought that you."Ed watched as Darcy crawled over to him cautiously.  
  
Darcy reached Ed and started to touch his face, "It is you!" She looked in his eyes and smiled. 'Time to put this act into high gear', she thought to herself as she collapsed into his arms. Her head rested on his shoulder. She felt him put his arms around her and hold her tight. "Did you come to rescue me again?" she asked.  
  
Ed nearly banged his head against the wall. The last time he had seen Darcy and Kelly was when he, Tom and Sloan had rescued them from the cave where Lynch held them. "I'm sorry, Darcy, but it looks like this time we both need to be rescued."  
  
Darcy squeezed Ed tighter. "What do they want with us?"  
  
"I don't know. Darcy, I have something to tell you," Ed said sadly. He lifted her chin up so he could look straight in her face when he broke the bad news.  
  
"What is it, Dr. Tate?"  
  
Ed smiled, "Please, call me Ed." He paused and watched her nod in agreement. "Darcy, while you and Kelly were in the cave, Lynch did something to Kelly. Now, what I have to say may seem odd but you have got to believe me." Ed waited and Darcy nodded again. Ed continued, "Lynch and the people who have us prisoners are an evolved form of man. They are called dominants and they mean to wipe us out. After the cave, did you have any headaches or stomach aches?"  
  
"Ahh, no.why?"  
  
Ed sighed, "Okay.that's good. Lynch tried to change Kelly's DNA, to make her like them. But it failed, Darcy.I'm sorry.Kelly didn't make it."  
  
"You.mean.she died?"  
  
"Yes.I'm so sorry; I know that you two were friends. She said had told me that she tried to find you but you were gone. I thought that maybe Lynch had tried to convert you too and you had died also. Are you sure nothing happened to you in the cave?" Ed felt bad having to be the one to tell her all this but it had to be done.  
  
"I'm sure, Ed.nothing happened to me. I can't believe this, she didn't want to go with Lynch.we had decided to only take rides with families.I killed her." Darcy lowered her head to rest on Ed's chest again.  
  
Ed wrapped his arms her, "No you didn't, Darcy. You had no idea what was going to happen. I'm sure that Kelly didn't blame you." Ed looked around the room again, "How long have you been here?"  
  
"I guess five years or close to it. I haven't always been here; they've moved me around a lot. They used to take blood from me but not anymore. Are they going to kill us?"  
  
"I don't know." Ed thought about what Darcy said, he stared up at the ceiling. There was a vent but it was too high for either of them to reach, even if he had her stand on his shoulders. Besides, from where he was sitting, it looked too small for her to crawl through. "Kelly's conversion failed.they may have taken you to run some tests on their serum. Instead of testing it on you like they did Kelly, they just used your blood. They stopped taking blood from you when they perfected the serum."  
  
"You think they will use it on us now?" Darcy was still resting her head on Ed's chest.  
  
"I don't know.I hope not." Ed wasn't sure what Lewis had planned or what he had done to Darien to change him. All he could think of was that Lewis used the same mind control technique on Darien that he used on Tom.  
  
"What are we going to do?" Darcy asked. She was playing her part and playing it well.  
  
"I wish I knew. Guess we'll have to wait for the Calvary to come." Ed started to rub her back to comfort Darcy. The two stayed like that for a long time. The room was kept lit and with no windows, there was no way for him to tell what time it was. His escape from the compound in Alaska was easy, this would be harder to accomplish. At least with Dr. Copeland, Ed knew what they wanted from him, but this waiting was going to drive him nuts. Was Lewis going to try to convert him after all or was he going to kill him. The wait was going to drive nuts, 'Just get this over with.whatever it is, just do it,' he thought to himself.  
  
The lights dimmed to give an appearance of a moonlit night. Darcy lifted her head, "What's going on?"  
  
"Looks like they're in control of nature in here, guess it's night time.for us anyway." Ed's eyes finally adjusted to the darkness and he could see Darcy staring at him. "You okay?"  
  
"Yeah, now that you're here," Darcy leaned forward and lightly kissed Ed on his lips, "Thanks."  
  
Ed was surprised at the gesture and figured that she was only showing her appreciation. She was scared and she needed somebody. "Sure anytime.uhmmm.lets try to get some sleep." Ed lay down on the hard floor, he turned onto his side. Darcy was facing him; she curled up into a ball and pushed herself up against his body. Ed was going to say something but decided not too. The poor kid must have gone through hell the past five years and being alone didn't help. Ed decided that he would do his best to help her and if she needed the closeness then he would provide that feeling of protection for her.  
  
As sleep finally claimed Ed, he hoped that Tom would be able to protect Sloan from Darien.  
  
Darcy sensed that Ed had finally fallen into a deep sleep. Considering that he was on a hard cold floor it was remarkable. She lightly ran her hand over his chest and purred, "You and Darien are more similar than I had imagined. Nice, very nice, for a human." Darcy rolled Ed onto his back and straddled him. She bent down and slowly placed soft kisses around his mouth. Her hands roamed their way up under his t-shirt as her tongue traced his jaw line.  
  
Ed squirmed at the sensation and with his eyes still closed, he moaned. "Claire."  
  
Darcy smiled, 'Time to move this up a notch,' she said to herself. Her mouth covered his and her tongue demanded entry.  
  
Ed unconsciously opened his mouth. His arms wrapped around Darcy and he held her tight to his body. His hands ran through her hair. He lifted his head slightly into the kiss and their lips pushed together even more. Ed moaned as he felt a hand unbutton his pants and then the zipper slowly made its way down. He arched his back as a hand slipped inside and massaged him through his boxers.  
  
Ed opened his eyes and everything came back to him, Stark, the cryopod, Darien, the cell and Darcy. His mind went into overdrive. He grabbed Darcy's shoulders, "Stop! What are you doing, Darcy?"  
  
Darcy bent down and whispered in his ear, "Doesn't it feel good, Ed?" She nipped at his ear lightly eliciting a soft growl from Ed.  
  
"Uhhhh." Ed tried to get control of himself and he found it difficult. Darcy kept squeezing and pulling on him through his boxers. Finally, he sat up and grabbed her hands, "Darcy, I can't do this.not with you.I'm in love with someone else and I won't betray her."  
  
Darcy became angry at Ed's refusal. She hit him in the face with her right hand. Ed's head hit the concrete wall. Darcy grabbed him by his shoulders and shook him, "You will learn not to say no!"  
  
Ed looked at her dizzily, "Darcy?" Before Ed could react Darcy stood up and kicked him in his ribs. Ed hit the wall again and slide down the wall to the floor. The lights came on and Darcy stopped her assault when Lewis walked into the room.  
  
Lewis spied the trail of blood leading down the wall to where Ed lay, half dazed and gasping for air. Lewis smiled, "Dr. Tate, I guess Tom never told you about our women. They don't like to be turned down when they're ready to procreate."  
  
Ed looked up at Lewis, "Your women.you mean that."  
  
"Yes, Dr. Tate, Darcy is one of us.has been for quite sometime." Lewis walked towards Ed, "You were right you know, we learned a lot from our failure with Kelly. I took Darcy and studied her to perfect the serum. She was the first human to be successfully converted. Now I bet you're wondering if Darien is the second.no, he isn't, just the first of his kind."  
  
"And what 'kind' would that be?" Ed managed to ask.  
  
"He's the perfect predator or assassin, which ever way you want to say it." Lewis took Darcy by her hand and led her out. The door locked behind them.  
  
Ed took his shirt off and applied pressure to the wound on his head which throbbed like someone was using a jackhammer to get inside his head, "Why do people find it necessary to clobber me on my head?" His ribs hurt and he hoped that none were broken.  
  
All that paled of course to Lewis' announcement that Darien was a predator, a hunter. Ed had heard Tom talk about them. They were supposedly more aggressive than the Chameleons. Ruthless assassins, trained experts in terrorism and normally used when a quick kill was necessary.  
  
The door to the cell opened. Ed rolled his eyes, "Now what?" He looked up and recognized the tall black man, although he hasn't seen him in years, since Alaska.  
  
"Nice to see you again, Dr. Tate. I don't think Dr. Copeland had the chance to introduce us, I'm Karl Hunter and I'm going to make your stay a living hell."  
  
TBC. 


	10. Chapter 10

Thanks for the replies. Hope you enjoy. For those of you that have asked, there will be another part of this series at a later time.  
  
Disclaimers are in the first chapter. You will need a super industrial strength rope for this part.  
  
Alli and MM  
Chapter 10  
  
Walter brought everyone to the new lab location and asked them into his office. Sloan sat down, "What is it Walter?" She noticed the dismal look on his face.  
  
"My contact confirmed that Darien took Ed to Lewis." Tom announced.  
  
There was silence throughout the room. "There's no telling what Lewis has done to Ed already," Sloan said somberly.  
  
"Who's your contact?" Hobbes asked.  
  
"It's a reliable source, Agent Hobbes. And I know how my boss was able to take down Agent Fawkes," Walter held up something that looked like a bazooka.  
  
Sloan stood up. Tom raised a brow. Hobbes whistled. Ray glared at the weapon. "What is that? Claire asked.  
  
"It's something new, it only works on dominants. It's a sensory disrupter." Walter put it down on his desk.  
  
"You mean, like in Star Trek or something?" Hobbes looked at the weapon, "So, this is what had Fawkes acting all crazy in the alley. What does it do?"  
  
"Dominant minds work on a higher frequency then human minds. What this does is disrupt the electrical impulses, in other words, this puts them in a confused state." Walter said.  
  
"Ahh.so like how Fawkes is able to use his thoughts to confuse us, now we can do it to him or them?" Hobbes asked as he looked at Tom.  
  
"Yes, that's right." Walter looked like he had something else to say.  
  
"Anything else we should know about, Walter?" Ray asked.  
  
"Yes, there is one more thing and this concerns you, Sloan."  
  
"What? Me?" Sloan asked.  
  
"It seems that Lewis has ordered Darien to bring you to the High Council." Walter looked around the room, "What I'm proposing is dangerous."  
  
"You want to set a trap for Fawkes and use Sloan as bait. He'll know we're around," Hobbes pointed to his head. "Remember, he's got that extra radar going there."  
  
"Yes, he will, but now we have the advantage," Walter patted the weapon, "This will work at a great distance and I don't think he'll be expecting us. Tom can be at a safe distance where he won't be affected. Darien should be confused long enough for us to move in and sedate him."  
  
Tom looked at Sloan with concern. He didn't like the idea of using Sloan as bait, but it had to be done. "Sloan, I'm thirsty can you get me something to drink? Tom asked.  
  
"Sure, anyone else need something?" Sloan counted off the number and Claire went with her to help.  
  
Tom turned his gaze to Walter, "I have an idea. It's dangerous but it should work. I don't want to put Sloan in any danger, but it might help us get Ed back too."  
  
"Okay, so what's this plan of yours?" Hobbes asked.  
  
They all listened intently as Tom proposed a way to use Darien to find Ed and to bring them both back safely.  
  
****  
  
"You're a killer, Dr. Tate!" Karl hissed in Ed's face as he held the slightly taller man up against the wall.  
  
"No, that's not true," Ed said.  
  
Karl smiled and let Ed go. He fell to the floor and looked up at the dominant, "What makes you think I'm a killer?"  
  
"Don't you remember Alaska, Dr. Tate?"  
  
"How can I forget?" Ed replied. "I almost died," he added scornfully.  
  
"Good, then you'll remember the hundreds of innocent people you infected with the Spanish Flu when you escaped." Karl bent down to stare into Ed's face, "How many of those innocent humans died because of you?"  
  
"It wasn't my fault, I.I didn't know I had the flu. Don't shift this on me, Karl. If Dr. Copeland had not exhumed the virus in the first place none of that would have happened."  
  
Karl smiled, "It's war, Dr. Tate, and we do what we must to insure victory. If I kill say 30 humans it's not a problem because humans are my enemy, but you inadvertently caused the deaths of innocent men, women and children. Over two hundred people caught that fatal disease from you." Karl stood back up and glared down at Ed, "Two hundred lives, Dr. Tate, two hundred of your own kind and all because of you."  
  
"It.it was an accident, I didn't know!" Ed yelled back, "That wasn't my fault, I helped with the vaccine.I talked Sloan through it. I helped saved thousands, maybe millions of lives from both species."  
  
"At a cost though, if you had stayed and helped Dr. Copeland, those innocent people would still be alive today. Playgrounds would have all those children on them right now, mothers and fathers going about their business. You were the first, Dr. Tate, why didn't you die? Why did all those that caught the flu after you died? Think about that. You cheated death, but all those poor innocent humans." Karl turned to walk out; he opened the door and started to step out. He took one last look at Ed and through his senses knew that Ed was in turmoil, he smiled and closed the door.  
  
"I don't know why I lived. If I had known, I.d*mn it! He's trying to get to me. Don't let him.keep a level head. Yeah, head games, that's what this is all about." Ed thought back to the conversation, the words still ringing in his ears, "Over two hundred people, I didn't know. I infected all those people." Ed's head fell into his hands.  
  
****  
  
Darien had left the compound and broke into Sloan's apartment. He sensed her coming and didn't sense Tom or anybody else for that matter. Sloan was alone and a malevolent smiled came across his face as he waited for his prey.  
  
Sloan unlocked the door and walked in. She put her keys down and took her coat off. Sloan went to her room and did what she normally does; she took her clothes off but kept her slip on and put her bathrobe on.  
  
Darien watched like a cat stalking a mouse, he would play first and then go in for the kill. He quickly came up from behind her and shed the quicksilver. He grabbed Sloan from behind and pulled her close to his body, "Hello, Sloan."  
  
Her hands clawed at Darien's arms, but that only angered him and he held on tighter, "Darien, where's Ed?"  
  
"Ed? I'm about to play with you and you're asking about Ed?" Darien used one hand to grab at her hair and hold it close to his nose, "I just love the way your hair smells, so soft and curly too."  
  
"Darien please, let me go. I can help you." Sloan tried to keep her composure.  
  
"I don't think so. And I will answer your question about Ed." Darien bent down so his mouth was next to her ear, "I took him to Lewis. When I left him, he was standing before the High Council," he whispered in her ear. He moved his nose against her skin to take in her scent. "Hmmm.Sloan, I just love the smell of fear don't you?"  
  
Darien turned her around forcibly, he held her tight by her arms, "Where is Tom?"  
  
"I don't know." Sloan winced under the pain.  
  
Darien smiled, "You know what I think? You do know. Tom wouldn't leave you alone. He's around, just staying far enough away so I can't sense him. I'm sure that partner of mine is with him also, probably with a dart gun in hand." Darien noticed the tear running down Sloan's cheek. He bent down and kissed the tear, "Didn't know tears could taste so sweet. I wonder how the rest of you taste."  
  
Sloan sucked in air through her teeth when Darien's finger moved smoothly down the front of her robe. The last time she had seen that kind of hunger in a dominant's eyes was when Lynch had her trapped in the hospital stairwell. But Lynch's hunger was for blood, Darien obviously had something else on his mind.  
  
She expected her robe to fall to the floor but was surprised when Darien cupped her face instead. Darien smiled at the fear he saw in her eyes, "Get your clothes on; we're going for a ride."  
  
"Where?"  
  
"To see Ed of course," Darien let go of Sloan and watched as she walked to her bedroom. He followed closely behind her.  
  
"Do you mind?"  
  
"Yes, as a matter of fact I do. I want to watch," Darien leaned on the door frame with his arms crossed, "to make sure you don't try anything."  
  
"What happened to you Darien? Didn't Tom's training help you?" Sloan asked as she put her shirt back on.  
  
Darien let out a sigh, "Let's just say, I came to my senses about this whole dominant thing. I know where I belong now. Tom's a fool and anyone else who thinks that co-existence is possible."  
  
"That sounds more like Lewis talking then Darien." Sloan zipped up her skirt and then sat down on the bed to put her shoes on. She got up and walked towards Darien. "The Darien I know would save Ed. He wouldn't listen to Lewis or to anyone else; he would only listen to himself."  
  
Darien looked intently at Sloan. He was about to say something when he sensed Tom. A sly smile came across his face, "Looks like the rooster is here to save his hen from the big bad wolf."  
  
"Tom is here?"  
  
"Come on!" Darien grabbed Sloan by her wrist, "We're going out the window." Darien took a step outside and looked down. "Ladies first," he gestured to Sloan to walk down the fire escape first.  
  
Once they reached bottom, they got in the car and Darien drove off. Ray pulled up a moment later with Hobbes in the passenger seat holding a tracking device. Tom came out of the building and got in the back.  
  
"Is it working?" Tom asked with a hint of nervousness in his tone. He knew what Darien was capable of.  
  
"Like a charm," Hobbes looked at Tom, "They're heading east, towards the desert."  
  
"It's always in the desert," Ray commented before driving off.  
  
"Looks like you're idea worked, Daniels." Hobbes noted.  
  
"Sloan couldn't know that we planted the tracking device on her. Darien would sense it right away." Tom said.  
  
"What I want to know is how did you know that Darien wouldn't kill Sloan on the spot?" Ray asked. He looked in the rear view mirror and saw the look on Tom's face. Ray of course already knew the answer.  
  
Hobbes turned in his seat to look at Tom, "Did you have a gut instinct or something?"  
  
"No, Darien doesn't want to kill her. He has," Tom paused, he looked away then back to Hobbes, "He has feelings for her." Tom fought down his emotions. He mentally told himself that Darien was still part of the team and that he is also the victim here.  
  
Hobbes slowly turned his head to look at Ray, "Oh crap."  
  
****  
  
Karl left Ed lying on the floor when he received word that Darien was on his way with Sloan. He wished that he could get his hands on Sloan, but she was for Lewis. He would have to settle for Ed. But even then he was not allowed to kill him.  
  
Karl walked down the long corridor and headed towards Lewis' office.  
  
****  
  
Sloan was silent in the car. She tried her best to keep her mind blank, knowing that Darien could read her mind at any given moment.  
  
"You're unusually quiet," Darien smirked.  
  
"I have nothing to say," Sloan turned her head and looked out the window.  
  
Darien smiled and kept on driving.  
  
****  
  
Ed struggled to sit up; he didn't know how much longer he could take Karl and his visits. "Now I know how a mouse feels." Ed felt his ribs, he winced at the pain, "Nothing seems broken, maybe just bruised." Ed leaned his head up against the wall and stared up at the ceiling. "All I wanted was a quiet job at the University, just running genetic tests and sitting in my office drinking coffee. Going hiking and surfing on the weekends with out any worries. But no.Sloan just had to dig deeper into Ann's investigation and knock on my door at three in the morning sending my solitary life into turmoil."  
  
Ed let out a sigh and thought of the last time he saw Claire, "I hope you're okay, I miss you. I need you."  
  
****  
  
Claire sat and waited in Walter's office. She kept looking at her watch and then at the phone. Walter looked up from his computer, "Claire, why don't you go and continue to work on the research you and Ed started. It will help keep your mind off of it."  
  
"I can't. I mean, Darien went on missions all the time, but this is different. Ed and Darien's life is at stake here, not to mention Sloan's. I'm just afraid that." Claire stopped.  
  
Walter sighed, "It's out of our hands, Claire. Ed has been in sticky situations more than you know." He leaned away from his computer, "Did he tell you the time that we were chased from country to country by dominants and our own people?"  
  
Claire looked astonished, "No, he didn't. What happened?"  
  
Walter smiled, "Well, it all started when Tom was taken and the lab was shut down. You learn a lot about someone when you're in these situations, I had no idea that Ed suffered from a mild case of claustrophobia."  
  
Claire chuckled, "I didn't know that, Darien suffers from arachnophobia."  
  
"Those two have more in common than their looks," Walter noted. He leaned forward and began to tell Claire the story of their cross country race for survival.  
  
****  
  
"Son of a." Darien slammed on the brakes. The car skidded to a stop, dust and rocks fell around it.  
  
"What happened?" Sloan asked nervously.  
  
"Your boyfriend is following us and Hobbes is with him." Darien got out of the car and watched as the other car came to a stop.  
  
"FAWKES!" Hobbes yelled out before taking aim and firing.  
  
Darien grabbed his head and leaned up against the car, "Aw Crap, he's got one of those damn things. Man, they're everywhere like those friggin' thermals." Darien staggered.  
  
Sloan saw her chance and started to take off running.  
  
"No you don't little missy." Darien caught her and tried to get the quicksilver to flow but it didn't work, "Damn, that thing messed with the gland."  
  
Darien saw Tom coming towards him. "Hey, Tom," Darien pushed Sloan to the ground. He saw Tom distracted by Sloan and he lunged at him.  
  
Sloan watched as the two men rolled on the ground, each one trying to grasp the other's neck. She ran towards Hobbes and Ray. "You have to stop them, they'll kill each other," Sloan said fretfully.  
  
"Don't worry, we'll stop them before they can seriously hurt each other. We need the diversion from the compound," Hobbes said.  
  
"What?" Sloan asked.  
  
"We couldn't let you in on the plan. We'll tell you about it later, but for now, Mark and his men are storming the compound to rescue Ed," Ray added.  
  
"We're just here to make sure Fawkes doesn't get away," Hobbes watched as Darien and Tom fought.  
  
"You're just going to let them fight?" Sloan said in anger.  
  
"Tom doesn't want us to interfere. He's hoping he can bring Fawkes back." Hobbes leaned up against the car, "I don't like it either, but this is what Tom wanted."  
  
"I hate this, but it is their way." Sloan turned and watched the fight.  
  
Tom and Darien exchanged punches. Darien ducked from one of Tom's punches; he grabbed Tom and flipped him. Darien growled at Tom, picked him up by his shirt and tossed him over the hood of the car.  
  
Sloan put her hand to his mouth, "I can't take this."  
  
Hobbes put a consoling hand on her shoulder, "Tom promised me he won't hurt Fawkes."  
  
"I'm not worried about Tom, I'm worried about Darien," Sloan shot back.  
  
Hobbes held up the weapon, "That's why I have this insurance. I won't let anything happen to either one."  
  
Darien jumped on the car and leaped off to land on top of Tom. Tom lifted his legs and flipped Darien over onto his back.  
  
The only thing that Hobbes saw was a pair of legs flipping over and then Tom reappearing as he stood up.  
  
****  
  
At the compound, there was gunfire. Karl and Lewis looked at each other and ran to see what the commotion was about. They met one of the guards in the hall, "What is going on?" Lewis asked.  
  
"We're under attack by the co-existence forces." The guard quickly said and took off.  
  
Karl and Lewis looked at each other and in unison said, "Tate!"  
  
****  
  
The gunfire didn't seem to interrupt Darien and Tom.  
  
Tom straddled Darien and grabbed his throat, "You don't have to do this!"  
  
"Go to hell, Tom!" Darien punched Tom across his face. The force of the punch knocked Tom to the ground. Darien got up and grabbed Tom again. He threw Tom up against the car, grabbed him by his hair and started pounding his head against the metal frame.  
  
Sloan yelled out, "Hobbes! He's going to kill him!"  
  
"Not today he won't," Hobbes held up the weapon, took aim and fired.  
  
****  
  
Ed heard commotion outside, "So soon?"  
  
The door flew open and two guards rushed in, "Get up!"  
  
Ed was roughly handled to his feet, "What's."  
  
"Shut up, you're being moved."  
  
Once outside the cell, Ed could hear gun fire and shouting, "You're under attack?"  
  
Ed was forced down the hall. He could barely stay on his feet. He heard Lewis' voice call out orders, "Get Tate to the truck now!"  
  
"It's a rescue?" Ed said under his breath.  
  
****  
  
Darien grabbed his head. Tom collapsed to the ground.  
  
Hobbes watched to see what Darien would do next.  
  
Darien glared at Hobbes, "Hobbes, what the hell are you doing?" Darien started to stagger towards Hobbes, "Put that damn thing down."  
  
"Don't come any closer, Fawkes, I'll shoot you again and scramble your brains some more," Hobbes warned.  
  
"You wouldn't do that to your own partner would ya?" Darien took another step closer.  
  
"Try me," Hobbes said.  
  
Ray and Sloan watched the showdown between the two men.  
  
****  
  
Ed needed to stall for time so he did what anybody would do; he tripped over his own feet. The three men went crashing down to the floor. With all the strength Ed had left, he propped himself up as best he could and kneed one dominant in the groin, "That hurts you as much as it hurts me." He grabbed for the holstered gun and pulled it out.  
  
The other dominant jumped on Ed and tackled him to the ground. They both struggled for the loose gun. Ed's height advantage came in handy and he was able to reach for the gun first.  
  
The guard had already drawn his weapon and was bringing it up to aim at Ed.  
  
Everything moved in slow motion as Ed pointed the gun towards the guard.  
  
Two gunshots echoed through the hall.  
  
****  
  
Darien took off in a sprint towards Hobbes.  
  
"Sorry, partner," Hobbes pulled the trigger.  
  
Darien convulsed and fell to the ground.  
  
Hobbes lowered the weapon.  
  
****  
  
Ed stared blankly as the guard fell over. He waited for the pain to come, but it never did. He looked at the gun, the safety was still on. Ed looked around and that's when he saw the shooter.  
  
Darcy slowly lowered the gun. She looked at Ed, "I couldn't let him kill you. You helped protect Kelly and me from Lynch when we left the cave. Now we're even."  
  
Before Ed could thank her, Darcy was gone. He got up and ran as fast as he could.  
  
****  
  
Sloan went to Tom's side. He was out cold. She held him in her arms.  
  
Hobbes checked on Darien. He looked up at Ray, "He won't be given us trouble anytime soon."  
  
"Let's get these two in the cars and get out of here," Ray said.  
  
Sloan stayed with Tom while Ray and Hobbes kept Darien company in the other car. They drove to meet Mark at the rendezvous point.  
  
****  
  
"Ray just called. They're on their way to meet Mark now." Walter said to Claire.  
  
"Did Mark find Ed?" Claire asked with apprehension.  
  
"Yes, in fact, Mark suspects that Ed got away during the commotion. He's going to be fine, just weak from his ordeal between Stark and Lewis," Walter half smiled.  
  
"What about Darien and Sloan?"  
  
"Darien is unconscious and Sloan is fine, shaken, but she'll be alright. Hobbes had to use the weapon in close proximity to Tom, so he's been affected as well."  
  
"Let's just hope they get here now without anything else happening," Claire said.  
  
Walter nodded in agreement.  
  
****  
  
After Hobbes and company got Darien, Tom and Ed back to the new lab, Mark and his men took off. Claire and Walter greeted them and they went to work to assess the injuries. Ed was slightly dehydrated, nothing that an IV couldn't handle and some bumps and bruises. But overall he was fine. Claire had given him some medication when he first arrived to help him rest more comfortably. That was about two hours ago.  
  
Claire then moved on to Darien who was restrained to the gurney. She kept him sedated until Tom was feeling better. Right now, Tom was their only hope to help Darien regain control again. Claire began to prepare another sedative for Darien. His metabolism worked in overdrive since his DNA had been altered. Medications seem to go through his system quicker than usual.  
  
Sloan sat with Tom in another room. Hobbes and Ray were giving Walter an account of what happened during the rescue. All of them were completely unaware as to what was about to happen.  
  
Ed was lying down when he heard Darien in his mind, "Ed, you need to get up and help me. Claire is going to kill me."  
  
"Darien?" Ed moved slightly.  
  
"Yes, it's me.you're the only one I trust. The Official just talked to her about harvesting the gland. You've got to help me." Darien said.  
  
Ed got up and staggered towards Darien. He saw Claire doing something but he couldn't see very well.  
  
"Ed, she's preparing to give me a shot, you have to stop her," Darien commanded.  
  
Ed looked around quickly and found some chloroform. He put some on a rag and pressed it to Claire's face. She tried to fight, but Ed was too strong. When she stopped struggling he laid her gently on the floor and kissed her lips, "Sorry, but I can't let you do this."  
  
Ed stood up and quickly packed a bag. He went over to Darien and untied the restraints, Darien leapt off the gurney and quicksilvered both of them. They found a car and Darien hot wired it. Ed got in the driver's seat and Darien sat on the passenger side. Ed handed Darien some water, "Here you should drink this, sometimes the drugs can dehydrate you."  
  
"Thanks," Darien drank nearly the whole bottle. When they were nearly a mile away, Darien started to feel sleepy. He realized then that Ed had drugged the water, "What did you do, Ed?"  
  
"I'm doing what you asked."  
  
Before Darien passed out he mumbled to Ed, "I thought I could trust you."  
  
"You can, I'm going to help you," Ed watched as Darien's eyes closed shut.  
  
****  
  
Hobbes walked in and saw Claire lying on the floor. He also noticed that Darien was gone. "Oh no, what you do now, Fawkes?" Hobbes went to see if Ed was wake. Ed was gone too, "Ah just great." Hobbes poked his head and called for help.  
  
Hobbes picked up Claire and put her on the gurney. Sloan, Ray and Walter ran in.  
  
"What happened? Where's Darien?" Sloan asked.  
  
"He must have knocked out Claire." Ray glanced around and saw that Ed was gone too.  
  
"You think Darien took Ed back to Lewis?" Sloan asked.  
  
"This isn't' kosher, my friend. Darien must have done that mind meld thing. He got Ed's attention by doing the Amazing Kreskin act, he knocked out Claire and untied Darien, and together they left."  
  
"And how do you figure?" Ray asked.  
  
"Simple, I found Claire facing towards Darien's gurney." Hobbes stopped and motioned towards where Ed had been resting, "Ed was located behind her. Darien faked sleeping like he did before. Contacted Ed's mind, told him to knock out Claire," Hobbes picked up the rag, and took a quick sniff, "Whoa.chloroform.Ed came up from behind her and then set her down after he knocked her out. That's why when I found her she was on her back. Ed released Darien and off they went."  
  
Ray's hand was on his chin as he listened to Hobbes, "I'll go along with that. It's very possible. We'll know for sure when Claire wakes up."  
  
"Okay, now where did they go?" Ray asked.  
  
"That my friend, I have no clue. But I bet they didn't go back to the compound." Hobbes said.  
  
Sloan looked despondent, "I can't believe this happening. We really needed Tom."  
  
****  
  
A short time later, Hobbes walked out of Walter's office sullen. Sloan looked at him, "What happened, Hobbes?"  
  
"I uhmm.just got off the phone with the Fat Man. He's pretty upset. I've been ordered back to San Diego and so has Claire."  
  
"Why? You're needed here now." Sloan said.  
  
"Well, its kind of a long story, it has something to do the last time Fawkes went AWOL. I disobeyed orders and went out after him; he doesn't want me doing that again. A.uhmm.warrant is out on Ed for treason." Hobbes said solemnly.  
  
"What?" Sloan was horrified.  
  
"Well, when Ed took Darien, he also took government property meaning the gland. He also wants to charge Ed for kidnapping." Hobbes glanced down at the floor, "The warrant issued is for either dead or alive and knowing the Fat Man, he'd prefer dead. As for Fawkes, only the gland is to be brought back, unharmed."  
  
"Ed did the right thing. He's a medical doctor and swore an oath to use his knowledge to help those in need. He's only doing his job. That man doesn't care about Darien. Never did. None of you did, the only reason you were hired was to protect the gland," Sloan hissed at Hobbes. "I care about him and I'm glad Ed took Darien away before you could cut him open," Sloan had turned her verbal attack on Claire. "Now I may lose two people I care about." Sloan stormed out of the new lab.  
  
Hobbes and Claire looked at each other, "Well, what do we do now?" Claire asked.  
  
"We go find Fawkes and Tate before the Fat Man's cronies do." Hobbes looked at Claire.  
  
Claire stared back at Hobbes with red swollen eyes, "Bobby, you have to find them before." Claire paused as a terrible thought raced across her mind, "I lost Kevin, twice.I can't lose Ed too."  
  
****  
  
Ed kept Darien sedated until they reached their destination. He knew that Darien's metabolism worked faster, so the injections he gave Darien were closer than normal. He loved Claire but no way was he going to allow Darien to die. It wasn't Darien's fault what happened to him, Lewis did something and Ed believed he could reverse it. Like Sloan had helped Tom. He also knew that Darien was very dangerous and his attempt to help Darien could end his life. Ed was willing to take that risk. At least he knew he could die with that on his conscious.  
  
Ed had wanted to go do down to South America, but for some reason he stopped at Oaxaca, Mexico. He drove out into the desert and stopped by an abandoned house. He was near the site that he, Sloan and Tom had visited years ago, the spot where they found the mummified remains of a little girl and the pillar.  
  
Ed stood, looked around a bit and went back to the car. He carried Darien inside and set him down on the dirt covered floor. He went back out to the car and got his supplies.  
  
Ed reached into his bag and pulled out a water bottle and a knife. He walked over to Darien and knelt down beside him. Darien opened his eyes and glared at the knife.  
  
Darien smirked, "You think a knife is going to protect you from me? You should have brought a gun, doc."  
  
"I don't like guns. Besides, the knife isn't for my protection."  
  
"Can't wait to see where you're going with this. How were you able to pull that stunt in the car with the drugged water? I thought I had you under control," Darien paused, "Ah, that weapon, I hadn't fully recovered from it yet. But since we are together I do have to tell you a teeny weenie itsy bitsy secret. Claire slept with you because you remind her of my dear departed geek brother Kevin," Darien laughed.  
  
Ed glared at Darien.  
  
Darien sensed the emotional change in Ed. "Oh man, if you could see the look on your face right now." Darien tilted his head sideways, "Did I hurt Mr. Double Doc's feelings? You just don't have luck with the chicks do you? Too shy to tell Sloan how you really felt for all those years and too weak that everyone around you manipulates you, even Claire."  
  
"Shut up! Just shut up!" Ed hollered. Darien's words were still in Ed's mind, "I.it doesn't matter now, we're not here to talk about my love life or lack there of." Ed picked up the knife.  
  
"What do you hope to accomplish from this, Ed? You know you can't win." Darien said keeping a close eye on the knife.  
  
"Sloan was able to bring Tom back and I'm hoping I can do the same." Ed used the knife to remove the restraints. He stood up and backed away from Darien.  
  
Darien watched as he was freed. "I don't think I would have done that," Darien said snidely.  
  
"You were going to break free sooner or later. Besides, I know that the real Darien who wouldn't hurt anybody is still in there."  
  
"You're a fool, Ed. I have my orders. Get rid of the chick in the limo and Sloan."  
  
"I don't care about that woman, she's done nothing but cause us misery."  
  
"Ahh.but you do care about Sloan." Darien scoffed as he stood up.  
  
"Of course I do." Ed handed Darien the knife, "I want to make a deal with you."  
  
Darien held the gleaming knife in his hand. He smiled as he looked at Ed, "A deal, with me? You just handed me a knife and now you want to make a deal."  
  
"Yes," Ed grabbed Darien's hand and pulled himself towards the knife. He could feel the sharp tip through his shirt. "I want you to take my life instead of Sloan's."  
  
"What?"  
  
"You heard me, dammit!" Ed pushed the knife closer to his stomach. "I'm giving my life for her, don't kill her. She's not the threat to the dominants. I am. I'm the one that found the secret to the nanites, I'm the one that found a way to stop them. I helped Sloan come up the vaccine to Spanish Influenza." Ed squeezed Darien's hand, "I came up with the gene therapy to alter the dominants DNA to match our own. I'm the threat, not Sloan. I'm asking you to spare Sloan's life and take mine instead."  
  
Darien tossed the knife aside, "You know that's not our way." He swung Ed around and held him in a head lock. Ed felt the pain in his neck as Darien slowly applied pressure.  
  
Ed grabbed for Darien's arm, "Which ever way you want." Ed braced himself and silently said his goodbyes. Darien applied more pressure and Ed felt the pain increase, "You destroyed the lab, all my research is gone, whatever is in my head dies with me."  
  
Darien couldn't believe what he was hearing and seeing. He didn't think Ed would actually go through with it again, "You're serious, and you would die in her place?"  
  
"You should know that about me by now." Ed blinked wildly from the pain.  
  
Darien paused as words bombarded his mind, "Compassion." He knew what it was, but hadn't felt it since his conversion.  
  
"Yeah, devotion, whatever you want to call it." Ed could feel the pressure release slightly, "You've worked with Hobbes for a long time, I'm sure at one point you were willing to sacrifice your life for him." He waited for any hint of realization and then he felt it.  
  
Darien's grip loosened even more. "I thought so," Ed said, "You were human and no matter how this DNA conversion may work, those memories are still inside you. They can take away your humanity but they can't take away what you once had or felt."  
  
Darien paused, he looked up, "Someone's coming.human. You betrayed me!" Darien's arm tightened around Ed's neck.  
  
"I betrayed you, what do you think you did to me when you brought me to Lewis?" Ed tried to pry free from Darien's grip. "I don't want to be found by them, why do you think I brought you here?" Ed struggled for breath.  
  
Darien loosened his grip again, "Wait.you don't want the humans to find you?"  
  
"No," Ed coughed when his lungs was suddenly filled with air again, "Darien, I'm not a dummy; I stole valuable government property and went across the border with it. What do you think they're going to do to me?"  
  
"Arrest you for treason."  
  
"Yes and what do you think they'll do to you?"  
  
"Harvest the gland."  
  
"Bingo! We have to leave."  
  
"I'm not going to kill you, but I will take you back to Lewis." Darien stopped, "The humans aren't alone.dominants are here too."  
  
"As if this can't get any worse. How close are they?"  
  
"Closer than the humans." Darien gripped Ed by his arm and pulled him along, "We're going back, Ed."  
  
"No, Darien, think about what you're doing. This isn't you." Ed struggled to release himself but Darien was too strong.  
  
"Sorry, doc, but this is me," Darien turned the corner and saw the two men standing at the end of the hall. One had his gun raised. "Hey guys, thought you'd never find us." Darien stopped when he sensed the humans coming in from behind him. He started to run towards the two dominants with Ed still in his grip.  
  
Everything moved so fast for Ed. He saw the humans raise their guns and shout for them to stop. Ed turned his head and looked at Darien. Ed angled his direction and used his momentum to push Darien out of the line of fire, "Darien!" he yelled just before the first gun went off.  
  
Ed felt the bullet go in but he didn't feel any pain at first and then the second hit his shoulder. His body jerked and he fell to the floor.  
  
Darien stared at Ed, blood started to soak his shirt. He looked around as the dominants and the humans shot at each other in a hail of gunfire. Darien turned his gaze back on Ed's quivering body.  
  
For a moment, Darien was back at the compound. Both he and Kevin were running down the hall. He heard them both say "Oh crap," and then Kevin was shot several times. The whole scene played out in his head.  
  
"Darien." The voice gasped.  
  
"Kevin." Darien said. Mesmerized by the vision, he sat still.  
  
"Da.Dari.en." The voice gasped again.  
  
"Kevin." Darien repeated.  
  
"Darien.help."  
  
Darien snapped back into reality. It wasn't Kevin calling him, but Ed. "Oh my God, no.no," he scooted to Ed and held Ed in his arms like he did Kevin. "Ed.I'm gonna get some help."  
  
"Darien.you promised me." Ed winced at the pain. He could feel his life draining from him. Ed struggled to keep his eyes opened.  
  
"Shhh.don't talk. I've got to stop the bleeding." Darien quicksilvered his hand and pressed it to Ed's abdomen and then his shoulder.  
  
Ed hissed in pain from the freezing temperature. "Darien.keep your.word." Ed moaned, "Ah God.Claire.I'm sorry." Ed looked at Darien, he felt himself slipping away, "Claire.tell her.I love her, no matter.what."  
  
"No, Ed, don't do this, please.I'm sorry, I didn't mean to say that, it's not true."  
  
Ed shook his head, "It's not.your."Ed tired to talk, but it was becoming more difficult. The room was starting to turn dark.  
  
"Don't talk, Ed please hold on.I can't lose another.brother.please, Ed.Ed." Darien took hold of Ed's bloody hand.  
  
Ed looked into Darien's eyes, "Your.brother?"  
  
"Yeah, brah." Darien squeezed Ed's hand. "I'm back, you did it."  
  
Ed smiled, "Then.then.it's.worth it." Ed's grip on Darien's hand loosened. His eyelids fluttered then shut.  
  
Darien watched as Ed's hand fell to the floor, "No.Ed.Ed.no.ED!" Darien lowered his head to Ed's chest and rocked back and forth.  
  
Outside a helicopter had landed. Darien knew who was in it and he didn't care. He didn't even care about the gland or what may happen to him, nothing mattered anymore. His hold on Ed didn't cease. Even the shouts that filled the old house were not enough to break him out of his trance. He felt a hand on his shoulder.  
  
"You have to let him go," a voice said to Darien.  
  
Darien looked up with despair in his face, "No." Darien held onto Ed tighter. He wanted to cry but he had no tears, after all, dominants don't have tear ducts.  
  
TBC. 


	11. Final Chapter

Thanks for reading and the replies. This is the end of the second part of the series. We've already started working on the third installment, so you all will just have to be patient.  
  
Alli and MM  
  
Disclaimers in the first part.  
Chapter 11  
  
Two days later, Walter sat in his office, not really wanting to do anything. But as the old saying goes, 'Life goes on.' How he started to hate that now. He looked when he heard a soft tap on the door frame.  
  
"Come in, Darien. How are you holding up?" Walter asked  
  
Darien shook his head as he answered, "I'm doing, but I'm not here to talk about Ed."  
  
"Oh, then what can I do for you?" Walter asked not really sure where this conversation was going.  
  
Darien put his hands on Walter's desk and leaned down to stare at the man, "How long did you know him?"  
  
"Knew who? Ed?" Walter was confused.  
  
Darien pulled out a paper from his jacket and unfolded it. He tossed it on Walter's desk and pointed to the picture, "Him, I want to know, Walter. I want to know how long you knew him."  
  
Walter picked up the paper. He stared at Darien, "Where did you get this?"  
  
"The day I was dominant nutso, you remember, I was in here. When you all left your office, I took some things and this was one of them. Can you imagine the surprise I had when I saw that you knew him?" Darien leaned down again, "What part did you play in the QS-9300 Project, Walter?"  
  
Walter leaned back and tossed the paper on his desk, "That is classified, Darien, and you know too much already."  
  
****  
  
A week after Ed had taken Darien to Mexico, Lewis found himself again before the Council answering a barrage of questions. At least the Council still didn't know that Lewis had planned on overthrowing them and taking over. That plan is just on the back burner for now. 'Damn, Dr. Tate and his sacrificial human act,' Lewis thought to himself.  
  
The room suddenly grew still and everyone had become paralyzed. The doors opened up and then closed again seemingly by themselves. The air changed again and everyone could move again. The Council leader stood up, "What just happened?"  
  
Lewis searched the room but sensed no one and that's when it hit him, "Darien Fawkes?"  
  
"Bingo! Give that man a prize," the ghostly voice yelled out.  
  
The dominants all stood up and looked around hurriedly as they tried to figure out Darien's location.  
  
"Ah you know, you really don't have to stand up for me, but I thank you for the ovation." Darien spoke again but from a different part of the room. All the heads turned in his direction.  
  
"What do you want?" The leader asked.  
  
Darien laughed, "I want a lot of things which of course none of you can give me. Soooo, I just wanted to stop by and said hi to my old buds." Darien slapped the back of one of the council so hard it sent him over the table. "Opsie.guess I don't know my own strength."  
  
The Council members watched as the chair moved around to the other side of the table. The chair then leaned backwards on the back legs. A burst of silver flakes appeared and Darien appeared leaning back on the chair, his feet were crossed as they rested on top of the table with his hands clasped behind his head. He smiled as he smacked on some gum, "Hey, hi, how are you guys? Miss me?"  
  
"Comfortable?" Lewis asked at the way Darien was showing irreverence to the Council.  
  
"Yeah, actually I am. Thanks for asking by the way," Darien smiled at Lewis. 'I would be quiet if I were you or I'll tell your friends here that you wanted to throw a coup party. I'm sure they'll love to hear that.' Darien smiled the whole time he spoke to Lewis using his ESP skills. He watched Lewis grow red in the face, 'I thought you'd see it my way. Man, don't you just love me?'  
  
The Council took noticed of the eye contact between Darien and Lewis, especially how Lewis' appearance changed so quickly. The leader suspected that Darien talked to Lewis. He would make note of that and not forget. Lewis could not be trusted. He turned his gaze back to Darien, "This isn't a social visit, Darien. Why are you here?"  
  
"For the party! Man, what is up with you people?" Darien looked around the room. A mischievous smile was on Darien's face as he leaned forward putting all four legs of the chair on the floor. He leaned on the table and folded his hands as he thought for a moment. He slapped the table with the palm of his hand, "Okay, you're right, this isn't a social visit, cause frankly you people are boring. Don't dance, don't drink, what do you do?"  
  
Darien stood up and walked towards the leader. He outstretched his arms and leaned on the table in front of the leader. "I'm here to warn you," Darien said in a serious tone.  
  
"Warn us? About what?" The leader asked.  
  
Darien smiled, "You just don't get it do you. You don't know anything about human history?"  
  
"Why would human history be relevant to us?"  
  
"Cause you learn from it. Well, at least you're supposed to anyway. You can't win a war fighting two fronts."  
  
"Two fronts.what you mean, humans and Chrysalis?"  
  
Darien shook his head and laughed at the same time, "Man, I knew you had a sense of humor. No, silly.humans and dominants. The co-existence faction is stronger and larger than you think. They're prepared for a civil war."  
  
"Civil War?" The leader remarked.  
  
"Yeah, you know the whole brother fights brother thing." Darien stood straight up, "Are you prepared to fight a war like this? Or better yet, maybe I should tell you something, 'Beware the ides of March'. You know the story of Caesar and his friend Brutus. Yeah, that stabbing in the back thing is something you should watch out for." Darien had a dead panned expression on his face. "I came in here and could have been Brutus," Darien scratched the back of his head, "But then, I'm not your friend am I."  
  
Darien with cat like reflexes, jumped up on the table then leaped down and grabbed the leader. He held him in a head lock as if he were going to break his neck. Darien hissed into his ear, "Hitler couldn't win on two fronts and you won't either. War is futile." Darien released the leader and disappeared.  
  
The leader gasped for air and watched the doors open.  
  
"I'll be seein' ya.but you won't see me," Darien's haunting voice came out of thin air as the doors closed.  
  
The Council glared at Lewis. They knew that was his fault. Obviously Lewis couldn't control his own creation. The Council members all got up, turned their backs on Lewis and left the room leaving Lewis alone. He had been rejected by the Council and was now on his own, a rogue.  
  
**** Darien masked himself as he made his way down the hall. There was one more thing he had to do and this was the main reason why he came back, he wanted to get Darcy out of there.  
  
He came to her room and knocked. Darcy opened the door and saw no one there, "I thought someone knocked."  
  
"I did," said the disembodied voice.  
  
A smile crept across her face, "Darien? You're back?"  
  
"Yeah, I'm back, ah.can you step aside so I can come in?"  
  
"Oh," Darcy stepped aside, "Are you in?"  
  
"Yep, and you can close the door now."  
  
Darcy looked around the room puzzled, "Why are you invisible?"  
  
"Well, so that you won't see me do this," Darien used a shock gun on her and she fell to the floor. Darien shed the quicksilver and knelt down next to her to see if she was okay. He brushed the blonde hair from her face, "Sorry, babe, but it's the only thing I could think of doing. I'm gonna get you out of here and help you come to your senses." Darien lifted her up in his arms and quicksilvered both of them.  
  
The door opened and then closed. Darien made it out without any complications.  
  
****  
  
Darien walked into the padded cell. When the door closed it sounded like the hatch on the space shuttle. Darien put his hands in his pockets and let a sigh, 'Well, here goes nothin'.' He thought to himself.  
  
"I was wondering when you were going to come in. Are you going to take me back to Lewis?"  
  
"Ahh, no," Darien said.  
  
"Then why am I here?"  
  
"So we can talk about you," Darien leaned up against the wall.  
  
Darcy stood up and walked over to Darien, "You're going to try to change me?"  
  
"Give me some credit for trying," Darien looked down on the shorter woman, "You're like me, once human. I think I have a pretty good shot at it."  
  
"But we're not human anymore, so why think like them?" Darcy said as she moved her hands up and down Darien's chest.  
  
"Okay, you want me to say it! Then yeah, I'm a dominant. But I also like to think of myself as being human."  
  
"Then you're taking a step back."  
  
"Oh, because of the whole evolution thing? Does being stronger, smarter and Vulcan like make us better?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"No, I don't buy into this evolution crap. That two species can't occupy the same ecological whatever it is."  
  
"Niche."  
  
"Whatever," Darien said in a sarcastic tone. "I don't care what Lewis said or anyone else for that matter. I tend to think on my own terms, which is something dominants seem to lack the ability to do." Darien took a quick glance around the room with the white walls and floor, "Humans are stronger than us, emotionally you know."  
  
"How do you figure, emotions are a sign of weakness."  
  
"Yeah, well, I've heard that a lot. Look, a long time ago my brother Kevin pushed me out of the way so I wouldn't get shot, he died. Ed cut his wrist when he thought he was injected with the conversion serum, he would rather die then turn against his people." Darien paused, he thought back to Ed in his arms. Darcy sensed the emotional change in Darien. "Darcy, Ed was willing to exchange his life for Sloan and Claire. But he ended up doing what Kevin did, he pushed me out of harms way and was shot, even though he knew what my mission was."  
  
"Darien, we make sacrifices like that all the time." Darcy turned and sat down.  
  
Darien shook his head in disagreement, "No, you missed what I said.Ed was willing.Kevin was willing.they both were willing to die for something they believed in. That's the difference, Darcy. Humans sacrifice themselves cause they choose to. Dominants do it because it's our instinct. That devotion, compassion and loyalty for others is what we can't fight against. That's what makes them stronger than us, even better than us. Ed's devotion to Claire and Sloan brought me back. It's also why I went after you."  
  
Darcy stared at Darien in bewilderment. She watched as Darien sat down next to her. "We will survive, it's the order of things and you know it."  
  
"Okay, Ms. Gloria Gaynor listen up. The High Council, Lewis and the others, they're wrong. If war starts, no one will win. I do believe world history has proved that. The Romans, Gangis Kahn, Napoleon, Hitler.they all tried and failed and so will we. The only thing we'll accomplish is the annihilation of both species. Is that worth fighting for? Our own destruction? Then why? Why the fight? Why not find another way, a way where both species can live." Darien said.  
  
"Because its evolution, Darien."  
  
"What, because of what Darwin said or because of what we're taught? Think for yourself. We don't need scientists to tell us what to believe or how to think."  
  
Darien paused and looked at the window. He smiled knowing that Claire was watching and listening.  
  
"All right.evolution.instinct.since I've had those thrown in my face lately let's look at them." Darien shifted his position so he faced Darcy, "Zebras in Africa migrate every year cause of instinct. Now they have to cross a river full of alligators. When they reach the river they kind of hang out cause they know the river is dangerous, but soon the instinct to push on is too strong and they jump in, knowing that they could die. Now, that sounds a lot like us, our instinct to be aggressive, to kill, is too strong for us to ignore. But that's what make us lesser than humans, they would choose to go around and find a safer way to cross the river, while we dominants are pushed by our instinct to kill." Darien looked for any signs of change in Darcy. She was definitely thinking about what he was saying.  
  
Darien continued, "Evolution, instinct, whatever it is, will push us to jump into the waters of war and we will not survive. If we evolved from humans, what will evolve from us, Darcy? It is the order of things, isn't it? What will our people do then?"  
  
"But look what happened to you, did you forget what the humans did to you or were going to do?"  
  
Darien furrowed his brow, "No, I won't forget that. But that's not how they all think. Darcy, you have to admit, we haven't exactly given them a lot of reasons to trust us. The road to peace is bumpy but it sure beats jumping in a river full of alligators."  
  
Darcy stayed silent for a couple of minutes. She thought about what Darien said, it suddenly made sense to her. Darcy smiled. She took Darien's hand and squeezed it, "If you, Tom and others are willing, then I guess I am too. Remember how I told you to let go of your humanity?"  
  
"Uhmmm.yeah." Darien said as he played with the long hair next to his ear.  
  
"I'm sorry I put you through all that." Darcy ran her hand over his cheek.  
  
"We were both brainwashed by Lewis. I'm just glad we were able to break it."  
  
"Darien, what will happen to me now?"  
  
"I don't know? What do you want to do?"  
  
"I want to see my parents."  
  
"Okay. I can take you if you like."  
  
"I would like that. I would also like to see Kelly's parents."  
  
"Are you sure?"  
  
"Yeah, I'm sure. I would also like to see Kelly. Do you know where she's buried?"  
  
"I could find out."  
  
"And Ed and your brother Kevin."  
  
"Why Kevin?"  
  
"To thank him for saving you."  
  
Darien smiled, "Yeah, we'll go see Kevin too. Anyone else?"  
  
Darien and Darcy got up to leave the padded cell. Darcy looked up at Darien, "A strawberry milkshake, I haven't had one in a long time."  
  
Darien put his arm around her and pulled her in for a hug, "You got it kiddo."  
  
"Oh and another thing, don't call me kiddo."  
  
Darien smiled, "Okay, deal." Darien opened the door, they walked out and the door shut behind them.  
  
****  
  
Three weeks later, Claire, Hobbes and Darien sat in the Official's office staring at him and Eberts. They were waiting for the morning meeting to start. The Official had announced the week before that the investigation of Dr. Ed Tate and his actions had concluded and that all charges of treason were dropped. Ed's name was cleared. Little comfort to Claire but it had to do.  
  
Claire sat as she did every morning, alone at the round table, twirling the puka shell necklace with her fingers while Hobbes and Darien sat in their usual chairs. Claire hardly said anything to anybody after the events in Mexico.  
  
Darien looked around and broke the silence, "Uhmm.is this a new way we're going to start our meetings, by playing charades?"  
  
"You're the one with the crystal ball in your head, my friend. Why don't you tell us what this is all about?" Hobbes retorted.  
  
"Hey, for your information, I'm controlling that.not unless it's absolutely necessary." Darien answered back.  
  
"It's a test,"  
  
"What?"  
  
"The Chief, he's testing you," Hobbes sneered at Eberts, "Yeah, they're testing you to see if you would crack under pressure."  
  
"Do you like lay in bed at night thinking this stuff up?" Darien asked.  
  
"Enough!" The Official barked, "I see that your DNA change hasn't altered your sarcasm."  
  
"Why thank you, Boss," Darien smirked at the Official.  
  
"If it's not a test, then why are we sitting here like mannequins?" Hobbes asked.  
  
"We're waiting for the new agents to arrive," The Official looked at his watch.  
  
"What?" Darien looked at Hobbes.  
  
Hobbes uncrossed his legs and leaned forward, "Wha.what.new agents as in plural?"  
  
"Yes, Agent Hobbes.new agents," Eberts added.  
  
"Whoa.I thought we were on a budget? Where is the funding coming from?" Darien asked.  
  
"This sort of has something to do with you Fawkes," The Official smiled at Darien.  
  
"That's nothing new, I thought everything here *does* have something to do with me or the gland." Darien smirked.  
  
"Yes, that's true, Chief." Hobbes added.  
  
Darien turned towards the glass door. He knew who was coming down the hall. He turned and looked back at the Official with a puzzled look on his face.  
  
"Someone comin' partner?"  
  
"Oh.yeah."  
  
The glass door swung open, "Sorry we're late, finding a parking space is hard in this city." The woman's voice said.  
  
Darien and Hobbes turned their heads and their mouths dropped open as Sloan, Tom, Ray and Walter walked in the office. "They're the new agents?" Darien asked. His thumb was pointed in their direction like he was hitchhiking.  
  
"Why yes, they are Fawkes. Like I said, you are responsible for them being here. You did burn down their lab." The Official said.  
  
"Great, you keep bringing that up like my police record." Darien sneered as he rested his chin in the palm of his hand. "Not that I'm pleased to have you guys on board. Well, you know, but we are the sorriest agency in the government. Why would you join us?"  
  
"I think we have a lot to offer each other and if we pull our resources together I think this can be a top notch agency." Walter said.  
  
"Okay that's cool and all, but where is the funding coming from?" Darien asked.  
  
"They're bringing it with them." The Official's eyes gleamed in anticipation of the funds that would be coming in."  
  
"Yeah, funds." Eberts smiled.  
  
Darien and Hobbes looked at each other. "Those two look like they hit the Powerball," Darien smirked.  
  
"This would benefit you too, Darien. Claire would be able to continue the research that Dr. Tate started in finding a way to get the gland out. So, as you can see, it's a win-win situation."  
  
Darien pointed to the Official, "Now that's what I'm talking about." He said with a gleam in his eye.  
  
Hobbes leaned towards Darien to whisper, "You think you can use your mind meld powers to get me a raise."  
  
"I heard that." The Official barked.  
  
"Hobbesy, do you really think I'd do that? Besides, Tom said it would be improper use of my dominant capabilities."  
  
"Some friend you are. Since when did you get morals?" Hobbes jeered.  
  
"Boys." The Official tried to get their attention.  
  
"Hobbes." Darien said.  
  
"Fawkes." Hobbes continued.  
  
"Boys."  
  
"Hobbes."  
  
"Fawkes."  
  
Tom impassively raised a brow to the verbal exchange. This is something he would need to get used to. Lewis would never have tolerated this form conversation. Sloan giggled. Ray shook his head, "If this happened at our morning briefings we would have been suspended."  
  
The Official banged his fist on his desk. Hobbes and Darien immediately stopped and both smiled. The Official grunted, "Now as I was saying. Along with the new agents comes funding which means new equipment."  
  
Darien turned to look at Claire, "You'll have company in the lab too, Claire."  
  
"That's nice," Claire half answered. She lowered her head in despair. She didn't realize how much she did love Ed. This last month has been difficult on her. Claire hasn't felt so lonely in such a long time. She really missed Ed.  
  
Darien looked at Sloan and shot her an apologetic nod. Sloan responded in like manner. The door swung open again, "Sorry, about that."  
  
Claire didn't take her eyes off the floor. She watched a pair of golden tan hiking shoes go by. They reminded her of Ed's. 'Ed's replacement I assume,' Claire thought to herself. She followed the baggie khaki pants and saw a powder blue lab coat covering an unbuttoned Hawaiian shirt that was covering a white t-shirt. 'Just like Ed,' she thought again and unconsciously she looked even further up to the name tag on the lab coat. Her eyes went wide and her mouth gaped open. She couldn't get her eyes off the name tag that bore the name.  
  
Dr. Edward Tate  
  
"Hello, Claire."  
  
Claire looked at him. He was waving his hand like he was trying to get her attention. "Ed?"  
  
"Yeah, it's me."  
  
"But."  
  
"You thought that I would turn down the Faa.ahh.the Official's offer to work by your side again?" Ed smiled.  
  
Hobbes and Darien snickered at the fact that Ed almost called the Official, 'Fat Man'. They caught his glare and immediately stopped.  
  
"Sorry sir," Hobbes offered his apology.  
  
"Yeah, me too," Darien snickered as he nudged Hobbes arm, "He's learning."  
  
"And quick too."  
  
"Enough you two." The official barked.  
  
Claire stood up, "You were so angry with me and the Official, even when the charges were dropped. I thought that you wouldn't want to come here."  
  
"Me mad? Not for long," Ed brushed a piece of Claire's hair aside, "Besides that wouldn't keep me away. Now if I really wanted to stay away it would be because of all the crap you people have put me through. In a course of two months," Ed held up his hand and started counting on his fingers, "I was kidnapped not once but four times, stabbed, drugged, frozen, confined in a tiny isolation room by a dominant who blames me for Copeland's death, beaten by a hormonal crazed dominant female,"  
  
Ed looked at Darien quickly, "No offense."  
  
"None taken," Darien said.  
  
Ed continued, "Let's see, then I was shot while I was trying to help Darien, if that doesn't keep me away than what will? Besides after all that, I think my life would be pretty boring if I didn't stick around."  
  
"Yeah, very boring." Darien added.  
  
"He's like you, my friend, gets his butt kicked a lot." Hobbes nodded.  
  
"Not anymore," Darien sneered.  
  
Claire wrapped her arms around Ed and they kissed. Everyone waited for them to break apart. But it didn't look like that was going to happen anytime soon. Sloan hugged Tom and they each smile at each other. Darien turned to Hobbes, "He surfs.probably can hold his breath for a long time."  
  
"Yeah, I surf too you know."  
  
"Really?"  
  
"Yeah, one time I was out and this humongous wave was coming at me."  
  
"Humongous?"  
  
"Yeah, you know large as in very large. Don't interrupt me, Fawkes."  
  
"Ahem.doctors.you're on company time here. I would like to get this meeting started." The Official barked.  
  
"Oh sorry, sir.I got carried away," Claire stated.  
  
"I'm sorry too." Ed added as he blushed.  
  
"I don't know how they do things at Whitney University, but this is the government now and I expect all my agents to be here on time and to show proper conduct while on duty. Do I make myself clear?" The Official waited for the usual response and he wasn't disappointed. Ed saluted his understanding.  
  
Walter watched and listened to the brief meeting. He wondered how this was going work with the two groups working in the same building, but for now it was in Tom and Darien's best interest. The events of the past month clearly showed that Darien needed to learn more and Tom was the only one that could help. If his boss wanted to learn things about dominants she would have to read his own reports.  
  
Eberts showed Sloan and Ed where their new lab was. Half of the third floor belonged to the new group. They did manage to get new state of the art equipment as did Claire.  
  
Ed gazed at the new set up. He was only a couple of floors above the keep and he decided to pay Claire a visit before he left. Ed pulled out the card and twirled it in his fingers. He left his new office and headed for the keep.  
  
Ed slipped the card in and the door slid opened. He stepped inside and saw Claire sitting at her desk, her fingers busy typing on the keyboard. "Hey," Ed said as he leaned up against the desk.  
  
Claire smiled, she turned around in her chair and saw Ed with his arms folded, "Guess I'm going to have to get used to seeing you around here more often." Claire looked at quizzically, "I know that you're doctor hasn't cleared you to return to work."  
  
"No, not yet, but I wanted to stop by first and give you something," Ed reached into his pocket and pulled out a keychain with two keys on it. He dangled them in the air.  
  
"What are those for?" Claire asked. She stood up and took the keys from Ed's hand.  
  
Ed smiled sheepishly, "They're keys to my new place. Come by for a visit.every now and then. Whenever." Ed shrugged his shoulders and started to walk out.  
  
"Wait!" Claire called out to him, "Ed," she held the keys close to her chest, "I will."  
  
Ed debated his next move, one voice saying kiss her and another saying leave. Ed shook both the voices off and approached Claire. Neither one said a word, they didn't have to. They wrapped their arms around each other and hugged tightly. Claire could smell Ed's distinctive scent and it drove her crazy. Ed's cologne mixed in with the hint of ocean that always seemed to be present on him.  
  
"Claire, I'm sorry I was so mad at you."  
  
"You had every right to be. You don't know how many times Darien has apologized to me." Claire chuckled.  
  
"I know, he practically called me everyday when I was in the hospital and it got worse when I got home. His messages filled my answering machine.he really felt bad." Ed brushed her cheek with his hand.  
  
"Can we start over?" Claire asked hopefully.  
  
Ed didn't hesitate, "Yeah, we can." Jokingly, Ed asked, "So, have you dated any other scientists before me?"  
  
Claire smiled, "Yes, his name was Kevin and he was just as brilliant as you are, but."  
  
"But?"  
  
"But.that's in the past. I want to be with you and not because you remind me of Kevin." Claire moved closer to Ed's mouth. "I love you, Ed Tate."  
  
Ed smiled, "I love you, Claire Keeply...or who ever you are." Their lips lightly touched. They broke apart and smiled at each other. Ed's hand moved behind Claire's head and pulled her in for a more passionate kiss.  
  
Claire broke the kiss and rested her head on Ed's chest, "You better get going or the Official will have a fit about having an employee in the building who's not medically cleared to be here."  
  
Ed smiled, "I guess I'm an insurance liability." Ed started to leave, "Oh, wait, here's my address and the code to get inside, you know, just in case I'm not around." Ed smiled, "We can watch the sunset over the Pacific. You don't have to come over tonight, but maybe another night."  
  
Claire smiled at him seductively, "I'll be there."  
  
Ed bent down and kissed her softly, "Now I won't be able to concentrate for the rest of the day."  
  
Claire removed the puka shell necklace from around her neck and held it up to Ed, "I think this belongs to you."  
  
Ed smiled, "I thought I lost that," he took it and put it around his neck.  
  
Claire brushed a strand of hair from Ed's face. His eyes mirrored Darien's in a sad way. Deep inside was a lonely soul and Claire was determined to change that. "I'm surprised you came to work here. Being handcuffed to a hospital bed really made you angry."  
  
"Well, it's not everyday you find out that you were shot by government agents who had orders to bring you in dead or alive and then the one that puts that order outs walks in like nothing happened and asks you to join the team without one hint of remorse or an apology, even though I lost a small part of my stomach, my liver was damaged and I won't even discuss my small bowel or large intestine, my left shoulder is better though, but I still can't surf yet." Ed never took a breath during his rambling.  
  
"Wow.that was one long run on sentence.anything else you want to get off your chest while you're here?" Claire smiled as she looked up into the chocolate colored eyes.  
  
Ed half smiled back and looked down at his shoes, "But, I'm not bitter."  
  
"As far as an apology or showing remorse from the Official, that won't happen. So, don't hold your breath and from that last tirade I can see that you can hold it for a long time."  
  
Ed chuckled, "You always seem to know how to make me feel better."  
  
Claire smiled, "Let me show you some more methods I have," this time, she kissed him back passionately.  
  
Darien and Hobbes were about to enter the keep when Darien sensed two very strong emotions coming from the other side of the door, "Ah crap." The tone was lower than usual.  
  
"What is it Fawkes?" Hobbes was about to swipe his card.  
  
Darien grabbed his arm, "Uhmmm.lets go get some coffee."  
  
"We already had some coffee," Hobbes retorted. "Look I can handle it."  
  
"Not this you can't," Darien went to push Hobbes down the hall when Hobbes stopped him.  
  
"Look, Fawkes, I know I don't like it. I love Claire, and that will never change. But she loves him and I have to get used them making googly eyes at each other. Claire made her choice and I respect that."  
  
Darien studied Hobbes, "You're really cool with this aren't you?" Darien titled his head to one side and waited for Hobbes response.  
  
"Yes, I am.sort of. I'll be waiting on sidelines and watching this dude. If he didn't look so much like you, I'd punch him out and then give them both my best wishes." Hobbes put the card back in his pocket and walked away.  
  
Darien snickered, "This is going to be very interesting." He caught up with Hobbes to go on their mission.  
  
Claire broke the kiss, "How are you adapting to San Diego life?"  
  
Ed had a smirk on his face, "Well, I did manage to get the house I've always dreamed of."  
  
"Oh yeah and what kind of house would that be?" Claire said as she poked him in his ribs with her fingers.  
  
"Beach house, what did you expect?"  
  
Claire raised her brows, "A beach house!?! You really are adapting aren't you?"  
  
Ed pulled her in tighter against his body, their hips swaying back and forth. He placed soft kisses on her neck and started to moved downward, "Yeah, I'm adapting." Ed paused, ".to this government.life." Ed looked up and stared off.  
  
Claire noticed Ed, "Are you okay?" He didn't answer, "Ed?" She watched as his stone faced expression suddenly changed. Ed started to smile slowly and his eyes looked as if he had a sudden revelation. "Ed, what's wrong?"  
  
Ed had a huge grin on his face; he picked her up and turned around in circles, "Thank you, Claire! You're a genius!" He placed a big kiss on her lips.  
  
Claire softly giggled, "Okay, thank you, but what did I do?"  
  
Ed placed his hands on her shoulders, "I've been going about this all wrong. Adapting. That's what I've been missing." He let go of her and paced crazily back and forth mumbling to himself.  
  
Claire watched with fascination. Ed stopped and looked at her, he grabbed her shoulders again, "Genius.absolute genius. I'd have to run some tests, but it should work. I mean, the process could take some time, but it should be safer than if it was all at one time. I just have to lesson the amount.yes, that's it.1/8 of the amount should do it. Small enough to take him back by stages."  
  
"Ed, what are you talking about?"  
  
Ed opened the door to the Keep. He took a hold of Claire's hand, "Adapting." He pulled her out and the door closed.  
Darien and Hobbes made it back to the Agency from their mission early in the afternoon. Hobbes had managed once again to get some chicks number. Darien didn't understand how his partner could have a black book as large as the San Diego phone book and still be hung up on Claire seeing Ed. "So, are you going to call the chick or what?" Darien asked Hobbes in a tone that matched his swaggering walk.  
  
Hobbes smiled, "Maybe."  
  
Darien poked him with his elbow, "Aw come on, man. I know you. You're going to invite her to Claire's."  
  
Now it was Hobbes turn to poke Darien in the ribs, "Shhh, Fawkes, you'll blow the surprise. You know tater tot's been working on this."  
  
"Okay, enough with the names. Why are you being so mean to the guy? Besides, you changed the subject."  
  
"I did not."  
  
"Yeah, you did, we were talking about this chick you met today and now we're talking about Ed."  
  
"I was just saying."  
  
Claire met them in the hall, "Oh, your back.good. We're going to the lab upstairs." Claire smiled widely at Darien, "We have some good news, Darien."  
  
"You and Ed figured out a way to get the gland out?" Darien sounded hopeful.  
  
Claire rolled her eyes, "Not that kind of good news but something else. Come on, Ed's waiting."  
  
"I thought he wasn't supposed to be here?" Darien asked as he followed Claire down the hall.  
Ed was busy with a blood sample when Claire, Darien and Hobbes came in. Claire went over to Ed and sat down next to him.  
  
"Nya, what's up doc?" Darien said smiling at his own self amusement.  
  
Ed peered at Darien through his clear safety glasses, "Very funny.I'm glad you're back, sit down. I'll be done in just a sec." Ed turned to his work again.  
  
"So, what's this all about?" Darien asked quizzically.  
  
"Hold on and I'll show you," Ed said as he scooted over to the computer and started a program. He turned his chair around, "I figured out a way to turn you back to human without harming the gland."  
  
Hobbes looked at Darien, "Hey, there you go, something to make you happy."  
  
"Okay, how and does this include pain?" Darien asked. He was waiting for the bomb to drop.  
  
Ed looked at Claire and then back to Darien, "Uhmm.maybe.but I think I have a way around that. Okay.first let me explain. I can't change your DNA all at one time. I can change it over a period of time."  
  
"How long?" Darien asked concerned.  
  
"It'll take about five weeks, maybe longer."  
  
Darien stood up, "I'm going to be in pain for five weeks?"  
  
"No, no.each conversion process will only take a couple of hours. We wait a week or so to allow the gland to adapt to the increase in brain size. Look, it's just not your DNA that gets altered, so does your brain mass. When the gland adapts, we'll do another conversion session. We keep going until you're back to the human 1.1%."  
  
"What about the pain involved? Are you talking what I went through the last time?" Darien stared out the window.  
  
"Tom only experienced a high fever." Ed said.  
  
"But there is also one other thing you need to consider. You're eyesight. You were having problems with it. If you convert back, it's very possible it may continue." Claire added.  
  
Darien sighed, "Okay, but what about it holding, wasn't that your problem before?"  
  
"It failed on Tom because he was a dominant to begin with. James, my monkey died from internal bleeding because the serum worked to fast, his body didn't have time to adapt. I've been testing a sample of your blood all morning and so far it's working. I'm going to test it on another monkey and see what happens before I try anything on you. But this is the best bet so far." Ed got up and walked over to Darien. He stood next to his twin, "I guess the question you have to ask yourself is do you want to?"  
  
"What do you mean, does he want to? What kind of question is that?" Hobbes blurted out.  
  
Darien looked at Ed and then to Hobbes. He stared at his partner for a few moments and then turned his attention to his shoes. Hobbes shook his head, "You're not sure are you?"  
  
"Hobbes, I.I have to think about this okay?"  
  
"What you worried about the high fever? Or is it Darcy?" Hobbes asked.  
  
"This isn't about Darcy. If Ed offers to convert her it will be up to her to make that decision." Darien turned to look at Ed, he slapped him on his shoulder, "Thanks, but I need time."  
  
Ed shook his head, "I understand, but you know the co-existence movement could take time and the gland may integrate more with your central nervous system to the point where the therapy won't work at all."  
  
"I know," Darien turned and walked out of the lab.  
  
Hobbes stood there wondering what had happened, "Would you mind explaining to me what all that was about?"  
  
"Bobby, Darien might be having second thoughts about the therapy to turn him human again. He feels that he can do more as he is now. This is a big decision for him with everything that's happened. We need to let him decide for himself and just be there to support him when he does make that decision." Claire said.  
  
"Well, what do you know; he's acting more human than when he was human." Hobbes said with a smile.  
  
Ed looked confused, "Huh?"  
  
Claire smiled, "He means that Darien is thinking of others first before himself. He's grown so much, Ed. He's not so selfish anymore."  
  
"Yeah," replied Ed. "But I think it may have to do with what happened to him while he was in the care of Walter's boss and Lewis."  
  
The three stared at each other. They all knew that whatever decision Darien made they would support him. Hobbes left the lab to rejoin Darien. Claire watched Ed sadly as he fidgeted on the stool. She walked over to him and sat down, "Hey, what's wrong?"  
  
"I.I can't go through with it, I can't work on my gene therapy. I mean how can I sleep knowing that I could cause the extinction of a new species?" Ed trembled.  
  
"That's not why you were developing the serum," Claire took his hand.  
  
"Yes.that's why I came up with it. To do to them what they had done to Kelly," Ed swallowed hard, "to Darien and Darcy. Who knows how many more? You know what they were going to do to dominants at that facility. My gene therapy, they were going to use my gene therapy to wipe them out." Ed looked away.  
  
"No, Ed. You had no choice. You were trying to come up with something to save us. It's no different than what they've done and you know that. Remember you told me about the orange juice boxes and how they put nano bugs in them to alter the children's immune system? How dominant men would get human women pregnant because their DNA is stronger? Remember telling me that? Who knows what else they've come up with to annihilate us? You were only doing what you had to do to fight those dominants, not the innocent ones."  
  
Ed ran his hand through his hair, "It doesn't make it right. Now I know how those scientists felt when they developed the first A-Bomb. That debate will never end will it?"  
  
"We do what we have to do to survive. Maybe if the dominants know that we have weapons and ways to fight back, they will come to the peace table." Claire studied Ed closely. The ordeal that's he's been through the past two months showed in his eyes. He was worried and uncertain that what he was doing was the right the thing.  
  
Ed swallowed hard, "Claire, I uhmm.earlier in the keep, when I told you that you can come over when ever you like,"  
  
"Yes," Claire nodded.  
  
Ed continued, "Well, what I meant to say was," he took a deep breath, "I want to see more of you, will you move in with me?" Ed smiled, "There I said it, I actually said it."  
  
Claire chuckled, "Now this is where you and Darien are so different, he speaks his mind on everything."  
  
"And I'm too shy when it comes to women. I had time to think today and I really blew it with Sloan. It's no secret that I loved her and because I didn't say anything I lost her." Ed put his hand under Claire's chin and rubbed his thumb over her bottom lip, "I was afraid that if I did the same with you, I'd lose you too. My whole world turned upside down the second Sloan knocked on my door at three in the morning with Lynch's DNA test results. Since then I've almost died three times, well four if you count being frozen, we were even chased half way around the world one time."  
  
Ed scooted closer to Claire, "I don't know what's going to happen to me or any of us for that matter, I also don't want to put you in danger. It's only going to get worse. The dominants have been after Sloan, Tom and me for so long that what we've been through lately has been the worst so far. We've had so many close calls before it would make you dizzy if I told you everything."  
  
Claire brushed away his hair from his face, "I live for danger. I work here don't I? Besides, I have a big gun and I know how to use it."  
  
"So I hear," Ed smiled.  
  
"I do have one condition though," Claire said.  
  
"Okay, what's that?" Ed waited.  
  
"Pavlov comes with me," Claire raised her brow.  
  
"As long as the little fur ball doesn't chew on my boards, he's welcome." Ed shot Claire a serious face, and then smiled slightly.  
  
"He has plenty of his own toys; he won't bother your boards. I'll see if Darien and Darcy want to move in, they've been looking for a place to rent. Darien's apartment is too small for the both of them."  
  
"I'm sure they'll like that. I guess they really hit it off." Ed said.  
  
"Yes, they have. They're made for each other, well, you know what I mean," Claire blushed.  
  
Ed's phone rang at that moment. He looked at it quizzically, "I didn't know my number was in service yet."  
  
Claire shrugged her shoulders, "Maybe its Eberts checking to see if it works."  
  
The phone rang again. Ed picked it up, "Dr. Tate."  
  
"Bonjour, I'm so glad to see that you survived your ordeal with Stark." The accented voice said.  
  
Ed went into a near panic and it showed on his face. Claire stood up, "What's wrong?"  
  
"I hear you're not alone, don't say a word and listen carefully. If you convert Fawkes back to his pathetic human life you will do more harm than good."  
  
Ed turned around to face his window, "I already know about your so called *fix*. I'm sure I can find a way around that."  
  
"That, I have no doubt."  
  
"So, why are you telling me this? I thought you didn't care what happens to Darien." Ed shot back. Claire became more agitated that Ed wasn't dropping any hints as to who he was talking with.  
  
"You're right of course, I really don't care. All I want is the gland. But I know that you do care, so I'm willing to make a deal. I'll tell you how the cure affected his eyesight if you help me with my new gland."  
  
"Sorry, no deal." Ed went to hang up the phone.  
  
"Here's a little information before you hang up, the eyesight was only the beginning of Fawkes' problems. Just think about our little conversation."  
  
"What else did you.?" Ed heard the phone click off. He stared at the phone for a moment before putting it back on the receiver.  
  
Claire stood in front of Ed, "Ed, who was that?"  
  
Ed looked down at Claire, with alarm in his eyes simply said, "Arnaud."  
  
The End ? 


End file.
